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n rk\ -iUi^yJi M-f'WKRyM^v . A A M i^^lOH 



A TREATISE 



MORAL EYIDENCE, 



ILLUSTRATED BY NUMEROUS EXAMPLES BOTH OP 



GENERAL PEIMCIPLES AND OF SPECIFIC ACTIONS, 



BY 

EDWARD ARTHUR SMEDLEY, M.A. 

LATE CHAPLAIN OF TRINITY COLLEGE, CAMiSRIDGE, 



'Hvioxov yv(afxr\v o-Tijaas KaQvirtpQ^v dpicTTriv. — PythAG. 



CAMBRIDGE : 

PUBLISHED BY J. DEIGHTON; 

LONDON: GEORGE BELL. 

1850 






CAMBRIDGE; 

PHINTED BY METCALFE AND PALMER, TRINITY-STRKET. 



PREFACE. 

When a builder intends to build a house, his 
first object is to secure a good foundation. If, 
after the work has proceeded, flaws and defects 
appear in the superstructure, they may, doubt- 
less, be soon remedied or removed. But if the 
foundation is unsound, and yet the house is 
built, the difficulty of remedying the evil be- 
comes proportionably great. Nothing will serve 
but the pulling down of all the materials, and 
a recommencement of the work from the be- 
ginning. 

So it is with principles. The mind of man 
recognises certain foundations, and on them 
builds a superstructure. But if his fundamen- 
tal elements are bad, or if in his mental pro- 
gress he admits any thing that is insufficient, 
then, before he can return to a healthy state 
of mind, he must pull down all that rests 
upon an inadequate support. Though the task 

a2 



IV PREFACE. 

be painful and laborious, ' and though he be 
compelled to descend to the very foundation, 
still the thing must be done. 

This paramount necessity then being admitted, 
it will clearly be of proportionable importance, 
that we fully understand the proper use of the 
means by which we are to arrive at the pos- 
session of our elements, or, in other words, to 
obtain those truths which we so highly prize. 
Since right conduct implies a due reception of 
truth, if we are able to appreciate that which 
shews such truth, i,e. evidence, we have thus 
at least a power which is necessary to the dis- 
charge of our duty. We are like men who, 
being about to enter into battle, are at all 
events trained in handling and applying their 
weapons. We are as artists, sculptors, say, or 
painters, who, having good materials and suit- 
able instruments, well know the art of using 
them. 

It cannot be doubted that the Creator, in- 
tending men to imbue their minds with certain 
abstract principles of action, designed also that 
in the daily intercourse of life, as circumstances 
required, they should develop those principles 



PREFACE, V 

by a practical application. On a given occasion 
truths are presented to the mind, of which 
being convinced, and understanding the rela- 
tions founded on these truths, as well as armed 
with its abstract principles, it is thus prepared 
for action. In the following pages it is at- 
tempted to give specimens of the establishment 
of abstract principles, and in some degree to 
explain the manner of their application. Since, 
however, much that is adduced is exhibited 
principally in the way of example, it will pro- 
bably in itself appear meagre and insufficient. 
Accordingly, for fuller information the Reader 
is referred to writers who treat professedly 
upon subjects which are here but incidentally 
introduced. Nevertheless, what is given may, 
we trust, be useful as far as it reaches; and 
it will at all events furnish illustration of the 
exercise of that great faculty by which man is 
distinguished, viz. the judicial faculty of appre- 
ciating truth. 

A great question, as is well known, has arisen 
among ' moralists in regard to what is termed 
the moral sense, said to be naturally inherent 
in man. I am not ignorant, therefore, that 



VI PREFACE. 

objections may be urged against principles as- 
serted in this treatise. If it appears that it 
has neither been attempted to answer such ob- 
jections, nor indeed at all times to prove as- 
sertions, it is not necessarily because I am 
insensible of difficulties which may occur, or 
of solutions that may be oifered, or of proofs 
that may be required: but it has seemed de- 
sirable to compress the materials which lay at 
hand into as short a space as possible, and to 
exhibit a succinct view of the whole subject 
proposed. 

It may, however, be proper to introduce a 
few prefatory remarks, which will perhaps tend 
to smoothe difficulties, and which, being pre- 
sented in this place, will not interfere with the 
thread of the main argument. 

In the notion of a moral sense it is implied 
that men have a natural perception of right 
and wrong, together with a natural recognition 
of the former and rejection of the latter; and 
that they thus approve or disapprove of actions. 
Against this it is objected: When a child is 
born into the world, he is totally ignorant of 
all relations and objects contemplated in the 



PREFACE. Vll 

ideas of virtue and vice. What notions can an 
infant have of chastity, covetousness, cruelty] 
To which, as regards practical purposes, is 
it not a sufficient reply to say, These consider- 
ations do not shew that God, judging of the 
actions of man, may not accuse him as having 
conducted himself in a manner contrary to the 
sense of justice, i. e. the law of nature written 
in his heart] And though, from not having 
enjoyed the advantages of proper mental cul- 
ture, whole bodies and classes of men may 
have recognised principles altogether wrong; 
yet this does not appear to shake the convic- 
tion that there is such a thing as a sense of 
justice to which the Creator may refer as in- 
tended to dwell in our hearts. In regard to 
the wild boy whom Paley mentions,* the ques- 
tion seems to be, not whether when first caught 
he would feel a disapprobation of wickedness, 
but whether when duly trained and instructed 
an appeal might not be made to his conscience. 
So with respect to an infant, not whether at 
his birth he discriminates, but whether as he 

* Paley's Moral Philosophy, Bk. i. chap. 4. 



Vlll ^ PREFACE, 

grows up, being properly * disciplined, he does 
not acknowledge moral distinctions. It is very 
possible indeed that there may be a latent moral 
sense in the human mind which time and cul- 
ture develop. If a seed lies buried in the 
earth, and in process of time, under the influ- 
ence of the sun and rain, becomes at last a 
plant, what is the explanation of the pheno- 
menon? In a child just born there are no 
traces of reason, no proofs of intelligence to 
distinguish him from a puppy.* Yet who 
would assert that reason is not naturally in- 
herent in man] But whether the intellectual 
and moral powers be or be not latent in the 
infant, may perhaps seem rather a question of 
curious speculation than of real utility: and 
the time at which the moral sense is exhibited 
may be thought indifferent to our argument, 
provided that at length it does indeed appear; 
that, anterior to such appearance, there is no 
call for it, no responsibility respecting it; and 
that when exhibited, God can with propriety 
refer to it as shewing His will. 

* See Reid's Essays. 



PREFACE. IX 

It is admitted that God has endowed man 
with certain higher faculties, which elevate him 
above the brutes. Suppose now that when he 
is placed in a state of society, and made ac- 
quainted with various truths in which he is 
more or less concerned, the necessities of his 
condition, together with the exercise of these 
higher faculties and the operation of any spiri- 
tual influences received from God, produce a 
result, i. e. a peculiar tone of mind. Suppose 
that at all times and in all places he, as it 
were instinctively, acknowledges veracity, jus- 
tice, regard to common good, as principles 
which ought to regulate human conduct. Does 
it not therefore follow that God, having in- 
tended these necessities of society, having in- 
structed the mind to which He originally gave 
its powers, has now at least imposed a law for 
the observance of which He may justly hold 
man responsible? What if savage nations do 
recognise principles which we abominate? If 
the wild man caught in the woods be totally 
unfit for our state of society % If God, for the 
furtherance of wise purposes, has given one 
species of trial to one person or nation, another 

h 



X PREFACE. 

to another? We at least are not exempt from 
our own responsibilities. Christianity is revealed 
to some nations, is not revealed to others. Some 
men are born where religion in its purest form 
prevails. Others, though nominally Christians, 
are brought up in ignorance and bigotry; per- 
secute, and are. persecuted. Even in England, 
in our own day, some enjoy the highest ad- 
vantages of leisure, civilization, education, in- 
tellect; others, sunk in poverty, are therefore 
naturally deprived of high mental cultivation. 
Still the Judge is just, and every one is answer- 
able according to his powers and opportunities. 

Nevertheless, under all circumstances, how 
ready is the human heart to admit appeals to 
certain primary principles, if those appeals are 
well and wisely made. However untruly, un- 
justly, cruelly a man may be acting, yet he 
will hardly with barefaced callousness avow 
that he is untrue, unjust, cruel; that it is his 
will and pleasure so to be : but he will en- 
deavour to palliate his enormities, to reconcile, 
sophistically it is true, still to reconcile his 
proceedings with what he admits to be the law 
given for his obedience, or, " with necessity, the 



PREFACE. XI 

tyrant's plea," will excuse " his devilish deeds." 
Nevertheless he has a plea, however poor; and 
this in reality implies a law and a sense of 
responsibility. 

But as an objection to the notion of a moral 
sense, it is further urged, that, under given 
circumstances, the minds of men of even high 
culture will diifer as to the line of action pro- 
per to be pursued. One man's mind will dic- 
tate to him one course, another man's another. 
This diversity then seems to indicate not the 
sure law of the Creator, but some fantastic and 
supple rule unworthy of His unchangeable cha- 
racter, and on which dependence cannot be 
placed. 

To which it seems open to the advocates of 
a moral sense to make some such reply as the 
following. 

It is of course supposed that the mind of a 
person called upon to act is honest, otherwise 
the objection at once vanishes. For if he pro- 
ceeds in opposition to what is really the dictate 
of his conscience, and knowingly does what he 
is sensible is wrong, it does not follow that the 
will of God is not clearly revealed to him,, but 



Xll PREFACE. 



it simply appears that he is determined to fol- 
low the bent of his own will. Though he may 
make a pretence of conscience, yet the case is 
really not in point; nor can his alleged dif- 
ference from the judgment of another man. 
placed in similar circumstances, be counted of 
any weight at all. But admit that a man's 
conscience honestly leads him to one course of 
conduct, while that of another, of apparently 
similar education, placed in a similar position, 
points to another. The question, however, oc- 
curs ; Be the outward appearance of things 
what it may, still are the consciences of each 
duly purified and enlightened'? The Deity in- 
deed. Who ever contemplates the full brilliancy 
of truth, clearly perceives the conduct proper 
to be adopted by a particular man, under given 
circumstances. But if two men, on the same 
occasion, sincerely differ ; might not further re- 
flection, a fuller examination of principles, a 
deeper probing of their own hearts, lead to 
unity ] But after all how difficult is it to shew 
that two persons, under the same given circum- 
stances, really do come to different conclusions. 
For though certain apparent circumstances may 



PREFACE. Xlll 

be the same, still others which (imperceptibly 
perhaps) qualify the views of each, are entirely 
different. For instance, suppose the whole ex- 
perience of one man's life has led him to attach 
peculiar importance to one set of notions, that 
of the other man to another set, and thus, in 
a given case, they clash; then in reality one 
judges upon the following evidence, i. e. the 
circumstances of the given case, together with 
all other matters bearing upon it, which his 
experience has supplied in the course of many 
years. Similarly the other. Hence, as they 
arrive at results built upon different founda- 
tions, they may very possibly and naturally 
differ. Who shall say that the Deity, making 
due allowances, may not approve of the con- 
clusions to which both of these persons in their 
respective positions have come, though such 
conclusions be directly opposed to each other'? 
Who shall say that the objects contemplated 
by the Divine Mind were not the discipline 
and moral trial of the men, while the course 
of action adopted or the thing done has (irre- 
spectively of such discipline and trial) been 
a matter of secondary importance, or of no im- 



XIV . PREFACE. 

portance at all] Thus wHen God commanded 
Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, the thing enjoined 
was not the object: the intention was to try 
Abraham's faith. Again, cases of conscience 
often occur, which are in truth of the most 
perplexing kind, and where much weighty ar- 
gument may be adduced on both sides. Now 
though the pretence of difficulties where they 
do not exist, as a mere subterfuge and evasion, 
cannot be too strongly reprobated; still it is 
easy to perceive, that in really difficult cases 
the most enlightened of mankind may honestly 
arrive at different conclusions. On such occa- 
sions a wise man, duly estimating the position, 
would naturally shrink from delivering his judg- 
ment, unless imperatively required. In the va- 
rious business of life, however, there are these 
urgent calls, designed doubtless to serve the 
purposes of moral trial and discipline; and all 
that we can do is to act honestly to the best 
of our ability, committing the issue to God. 

The objections which have been mentioned 
seem at least mitigated by these answers 
But a mass of positive evidence may be ad- 
duced by those who assert the existence of a 



PREFACE. XV 

moral sense. Let us see what Bishop Butler 
alleges on this point. 

" That which renders beings capable of moral 
government, is their having a moral nature, and 
moral faculties of perception and of action. 
Brute creatures are impressed and actuated by 
various instincts and propensions: so also are 
we. But, additional to this, we have a capacity 
of reflecting upon actions and characters, and 
making them an object to our thought : and on 
doing this, we naturally and unavoidably approve 
some actions, under the peculiar view of their 
being virtuous and of good desert; and disap- 
prove others as vicious and of ill desert. That 
we have this moral, approving and disapproving 
faculty, is certain, from our experiencing it in 
ourselves, and recognising it in each other. 
It appears in our exercising it unavoidably, in 
the approbation and disapprobation even of 
feigned characters; from the words, right and 
wrong, odious and amiable, base and worthy, 
with many others of like signification in all 
languages, applied to actions and characters; 
from the many written systems of morals, which 
suppose it, since it cannot be imagined that 



XVI , PREFACE. 

all these authors, throughout all these treatises, 
had absolutely no meaning at all to their words, 
or a meaning merely chimerical; from our 
natural sense of gratitude, which implies a dis- 
tinction between merely being the instrument 
of good, and intending it; from the like dis- 
tinction every one makes, between injury and 
mere harm, which Hobbes says is peculiar to 
mankind; and between injury and just punish- 
ment, a distinction plainly natural, prior to the 
consideration of human laws. It is manifest, 
great part of common language, and of com- 
mon behaviour over the world, is formed upon 
supposition of such a moral faculty ; whether 
called conscience, moral reason, moral sense, 
or divine reason ; whether considered as a per- 
ception of the understanding, or as a sentiment 
of the heart,* or, which seems the truth, as 
including both. Nor is it at all doubtful in 
the general, what course of action this faculty 
or practical discerning power within us ap- 



* We find this sentence printed "as a sentiment of the 
understanding, or as a perception of the heart." As Stewart 
however observes, there is surely a typographical error. 



PREFACE. XVll 

proves, and what it disapproves. For, as mueh 
as it has been disputed w^herein virtue consists, 
or whatever ground for doubt there may be 
about particulars ; yet, in general, there is in 
reality an universally acknowledged standard of 
it. It is that which all ages and all countries 
have made profession of in public: it is that 
which every man you meet puts on the show 
of: it is that which the primary and funda- 
mental laws of all civil constitutions over the 
face of the earth, make it their business and 
endeavour to enforce the practice of upon man- 
kind, namely justice, veracity, and regard to 
common good."* 

Is not this conclusive 1 

Because controversies have been carried on in 
regard to the moral sense, Paley dismisses the 
question; and taking what he calls a surer 
road, proceeds to his maxim of expediency. This 
doctrine of expediency he applies, to the estab- 
lishment, for example, of such a principle as 
that of gratitude. Now certainly so high a prin- 
ciple is worthy of all the support by which it is 

* Butler. Dissertation '' Of the Nature of Virtue." 



XVlll , PREFACE. 

possible to maintain it; and therefore, as aux- 
iliary we may take what Paley gives ; still do we 
not needlessly surrender what altogether belongs 
to us, unless we directly and strongly assert this 
principle, as at once recognised by that faculty 
which recognises justice and benevolence 1 

While touching upon this point, I will take 
the opportunity of adding, that in the succeeding 
pages, recourse has been had to any source which 
was open for the establishment of the principles 
asserted. Thus natural reason and Scripture, 
considerations of justice and expediency, other 
men's ideas as well as my own have been jointly 
applied. It has likewise frequently been my 
endeavour to support and illustrate my argu- 
ments by analogy. For (as says a learned 
writer*) from "the numerous similitudes and 
analogies which our Lord employed on all oc- 
casions to convey His supernatural truths to 
men, we may infer that this method of reason- 
ing is especially consecrated to the service of 

religion." In the kingdoms both of nature 

and of grace, the God of all truth is wonderfully 

* Tatham, Bainpton Lectures. 



PREFACE. XIX 

consistent in the mode of its dispensation ; and 
analogy is the intellectual instrument, by which 
in one no less than in the other, man is enabled 
to ascend from earth to heaven. From the 
curves and motions of projectiles, we have beheld 
the astronomer rising by a sublime analogy to 
those of the celestial bodies :" and thus in the 
moral world we naturally ascend from earthly 
things to heavenly. Let it be allowed then to 
establish and illustrate our truths in every pos- 
sible manner. Though " the rain descend, and 
the floods come, and the winds blow and beat 
upon a house," still as its foundations are 
stronger, the greater is its stability. Accord- 
ingly, the more firmly moral and religious prin- 
ciples are established in the human heart, the 
more probable is it that man will overcome the 
difliculties and temptations, to which, by the 
permission or decree of a wise Providence, he is 
perpetually exposed. 



k 



ERRATUM. 
Fage 179, line 6, erase the word 'instinctive/ 



CONTENTS. 



BOOK I. 

CONSIDERATIONS UPON MORAL EVIDENCE PREVIOUS TO THE 
RECOGNITION OF CHRISTIANITY. 

CHAPTER I. Page 

State of mind supposed to lead a man to inquiry. . 3 

CHAPTER II. 
Intellectual and Moral Truth. . . ,8 

CHAPTER III. 
Intellectual Truth. ..... , 11 

CHAPTER IV. 
Various degrees of Evidence shewing that things have 

been, are, will be. . . . ,14 

CHAPTER V. 
Difficulties of the Inquirer. . . ^ .29 

CHAPTER VI. 
Answer to the Objections of the preceding Chapter. . 34 

CHAPTER VII. 
Recognition of certain truths of Natural Religion. . 39 

CHAPTER VIII. 
Of Moral Certainties. . . . .42 



XXll . CONTENTS. 

CHAPTEH IX. Page 

A Future Judgment. Acknowledgment of the truth of 

Christianity. . . . . .49 



BOOK II, 

CONSIDERATIONS UPON MORAL EVIDENCE IMMEDIATELY SUB- 
SEQUENT TO THE RECOGNITION OP CHRISTIANITY. 

CHAPTER I. 
State of mind of the Inquirer. Nature and extent of 

Responsibility. . . . . .61 

CHAPTER II. 
Great responsibility in regard to the due admission of 

highly probable Evidence. . . .67 

CHAPTER III. 
Man is ever a responsible judge, acting by authority. 
In matters involving great interests the responsi- 
bility is more strongly felt. . . .73 

CHAPTER IV. 
Recapitulation of elements combined in the character of 
<a. Judge. Consideration of Objections. . . 76 

CHAPTER V. 
Further illustrations of our Principles. . . 82 

CHAPTER VI. 
Additional illustrations. . . . .99 

CHAPTER VII. 
Obedience to God the principle of the Inquirer. Foun- 
dations of that principle. . . . 109 



CONTENTS. XXlll 

CHAPTER VIII. Page 

Threefold duty of Man. ... 119 

CHAPTER IX. 
Additional support of the principle of Obedience. . 126 

CHAPTER X. 
Good and Evil estimated, as being in accordance with, 
or in opposition to, the will of God. Nevertheless 
(ordinarily speaking) what appears good is good, 
and worthy of pursuit under certain conditions. 133 

CHAPTER XI. 
Further considerations, respecting the application of our 

principles . . . . 146 

CHAPTER XII. 
General observations. .... 167 



BOOK III. 

REFLECTIONS UPON THE INSTINCTIVE MOVING PRINCIPLES 
OF MAN, AS CONNECTED WITH OUR SUBJECT. 

CHAPTER I. 
The conclusions heretofore obtained not to be shaken by 
the power of the Instinctive Moving Principles. 
The higher parts of our nature designed to govern 
the lower .... 179 

CHAPTER II. 
Illustrations of the manner of dealing with the Instinc- 
tive Moving Principles. Certain traits in their 
character and habits. , . • . 208 



XXIV CONTENTS. 



BOOK IV. 

REFLECTIONS UPON CERTAIN CAPITAL POINTS ESTABLISHED 
IN HOLY SCRIPTURE. 

CHAPTER 1. Page 

The Book of Revelation to be consulted jointly with the 
Book of Nature. Certain great truths exhibited in 
Scripture will illustrate our principles, and serve as 
guides of conduct. . . . 243 

CHAPTER II. 
The natural Sinfulness of Man. . . 260 

CHAPTER III. 

Of the new relation between God and Man, consequent 
upon Adam's transgression. Reflections on the 
mediation of Christ. . , . 263 

CHAPTER IV. 
Of the Holy Spirit .... 279 

CHAPTER V. 
Of Trust in God. ..... 289 

CHAPTER VI. 
Considerations respecting the Future Judgment. 298 

J 

Conclusion. ...... ^27 



BOOK I. 

CONSDERATIONS UPON MORAL EVIDENCE, PREVIOUS TO 
THE RECOGNITION OF CHRISTIANITY. 



^^2 



CHAPTER L 

STATE OF MIND SUPPOSED TO LEAD A MAN TO 
INQUIRY. 

Imagine a man placed in the world ; brought 
up under authority and example; pursuing the 
course in which he is directed without much con- 
sideration ; doing as he sees others do ; or urged 
perhaps to very questionable lines of conduct 
by incitements peculiar to his own disposition 
and temperament. It is clear therefore that his 
present behaviour is such, that it can scarcely 
be said to be founded upon any high principle : 
for principles are the result of thought, and he 
has not hitherto been led to think. 

The case imagined is no extraordinary ona 
The condition is that of multitudes. 

Suppose, however, that as the mind is ex- 
panded, and his reasoning powers are strength- 
ened, he is arrested in the heedless course which 
he pursues by some check, no matter what, 
some painful revulsion perhaps of feeling, which 
creates a pause, and throws him back on the 
resources of his own reason and conscience. 

B2 



4 STATE OF MIND SUPPOSED TO 

Conceive him then, not immediately perhaps, 
nor easily, but after some time, and with labour, 
it may be, and difficulty, to adopt such a train 
of thought as the following: 

"I am a man; an inhabitant of the earth; 
livijig in a society of beings similar to myself; 
connected with them by numerous relations and 
ties; susceptible of various feelings and affec- 
tions; urged by appetites ; surrounded by objects 
to which these feelings, affections, and appetites 
answer and correspond; possessing also higher 
faculties which distinguish me from the mere 
animals, and elevate me as superior. 

" Hence, further, it is plain that I may not 
be quiescent: though afflicted by disappoint- 
ment, I may not for the future prevent the pos- 
sibility of such disappointment, by determining 
to drag on an unharassed life in lethargic in- 
difference. On the contrary, I am constantly 
required to act. Even if I had both the power 
and the will (and yet how strange and harsh 
would be the exercise of such power !) to stifle 
a multitude of natural affections and desires, 
still the very animal wants of my body would 
force me to mark out objects for attainment. 
Moreover I have been taught, and am convinced, 
that to direct his powers to the accomplishment 
of objects is a primary and fundamental prin- 



LEAD A MAN TO INQUIRY. , O 

ciple of man's nature. A necessity, unconnected 
with the satisfaction of the appetites and the 
preservation of life, compels me to carry out 
this principle. My mind, with an earnestness 
which it is impossible to despise, craves that 
to w^hich it may devote itself. 

"But results follow actions. A design with 
which I act is to obtain results. It may how- 
ever be my object to avoid results. To take 
a very simple instance. As on the one hand 
I know that fire, when not too nearly ap- 
proached, will comfort and cherish me, and 
accordingly I avail myself of the good; so, on 
the other hand, it being clear that fire will 
scorch, I am moved by a natural and instinctive 
feeling of self-preservation to avoid its too close 
proximity, and thus I escape the evil. In such 
a case as this, then, I have motives which at 
once direct my conduct, when I am convinced 
that certain things are true. 

" But in general it is plain that results may 
be either desirable or not desirable, good or 
evil: and numerous truths are not so manifest 
at a first glance, as is the proposition that fire 
will scorch, and yet after some consideration 
are clearly discernible : and it is certain that men 
continually make mistakes in what they acknow- 
ledge to be matters of great importance : it 



b STATE OF MIND SUPPOSED TO 

behoves me therefore, as a fallible man, to take 
great pains, in order that I may make the best 
use of the powers I possess, and may be able 
to judge what is good, w^hat e\il, and what 
moreover are the means by which to obtain 
the former and to avoid the latter: for the 
means are not always so simple as when I ap- 
proach the fire in order that I may be warmed, 
or remove my body lest I should be scorched; 
yet it is manifest that if I am to accomphsh 
objects, I must use means suitable to such ac- 
complishment, and to the end that I may use 
them, I must know them. 

" Accordingly, if to mark out objects for attain- 
ment be an irresistible principle of my nature, 
what is the value of the saying which has 
been told me, "as to choose an end distinguishes 
a man from a beast, so to choose a good end 
is the distinction of a good man."* At least 
I may assume that some things are to be con- 
sidered objects of choice, open perhaps to my 
hand, and, like ripe fruit, ready to be plucked, 
or, it may be, hard to be attained ; other things 
again are presented, which it behoves me to 
reject either easily and at once, or with difiiculty 
and trouble. In short, to choose the good, and 

* Jeremy Taylor. 



LEAD A MAN TO INQUIRY. 7 

to reject the evil, is an elementary principle 
of my guidance through life: while to search 
for truths preliminary and preparatory to such 
choice or rejection, is altogether indispensable 
as a mean to an end ; and the search therefore 
must necessarily be pursued, even though at 
great cost of pains and labour." 



( 8 ) 



CHAPTEE II. 

INTELLECTUAL AND MORAL TRUTH. 

Our inquirer's state of mind then is this : he 
recognizes the obligation of diligently applying 
the faculties with which he is endowed ; he has 
motives compelling him to search for Truth. 

This truth may in his case be called Moral 
Truth ; which, it may be observed, is essentially 
different from mere Intellectual Truth. A pro- 
position which declares a truth abstractedly 
from all considerations of propriety of conduct, 
may be said to enunciate an intellectual truth. 
For example: the sun now shines; on such a 
day lightning struck the spire of a particular 
church ; the Duke of WelHngton vanquished 
the French at Waterloo ; the force of gravity 
attracts bodies to the centre of the earth ; — these, 
for the present at least, and in accordance with 
the principle of considering them abstractedly, 
we may call intellectual truths ; they may or 
they may not hereafter be connected with ques- 
tions of moral conduct: if so connected, they 



INTELLECTUAL AND MORAL TRUTH. \) 

will then become moral truths. But our in- 
quirer seeks for moral truth. He wishes to 
know what things relating to human conduct 
are true, in order that he may act suitably to 
such truths, as a man placed in the world. 

Accordingly it is clear that, though intellectual 
truths may be obtained, which may not in any 
perceptible manner be connected with moral 
truths ; still moral truths must involve the con- 
sideration of truths submitted to the intellect. 
The perception therefore of intellectual truth is 
a natural preliminary to the appreciation of that 
which is moral. 

Whatsoever shews us either intellectual or 
moral truth may be called the Evidence thereof. 
The evidence which shews that the Duke of 
Wellington conquered the French is the con- 
current testimony of all men. The proof that 
it is proper for men to eat food is made up of 
several different parts : there is the evidence that 
food will support life; the instinctive love of 
life; the appetite of hunger. 

While therefore the evidence of intellectual 
truth shews that things have been, are, will be; 
the evidence of moral truth shews that they 
have been, are, will be, ought to be. Thus not 
only are we convinced that Queen Victoria is 
the sovereign of England ; that Napoleon Buona- 



10 INTELLECTUAL AND MORAL TRUTH. 

parte died at St. Helena ; that a vine, if it pro- 
duces fruit next autumn, will bear grapes and 
not apples; but also that if a man's life is in 
danger he ought to adopt means of preservation. 
To afford assistance in appreciating moral 
evidence, and to exhibit facts and principles 
vrhich may serve for illustration, and may also 
themselves be of advantage in guiding conduct, 
are the objects of this treatise. 



( 11 ) 



CHAPTER III. 



INTELLECTUAL TRUTH. 



Reverting to the consideration of mere intel- 
lectual truth, we find that the evidence which 
manifests the certainty of propositions is of two 
kinds. " Some truths (says Mill) are known 
directly and of themselves ; some through the 
medium of other truths." Those which are 
known thus mediately are the subject of infer- 
ence: but those which are known directly are 
original premises from which others are inferred. 
" Our assent to the conclusion being grounded 
upon the truth of the premisses, we never could 
arrive at any knowledge by reasoning, unless 
something could be known antecedently to all 
reasoning."* 

We obtain knowledge directly from our powers 
of seeing, hearing, tasting, touching, smelling. 
This is the evidence of our senses : and what is 



* Miirs Logic, p. 6. Though his words are here used, 
still the text presents views slightly varied from those which 
he has given. 



12 INTELLECTUAL TRUTH. 

thus presented, we without doubt admit. If 
I see a house fall, I am at once immediately 
assured of the catastrophe. But if some one 
tells me the thing has happened, various con- 
siderations may warrant the conclusion that my 
informant is worthy of credit, and therefore I 
infer that the house has fallen. 

Again, we feel certain emotions in our minds — 
anger, hope, fear, sorrow, joy — of which we are 
at once conscious. But if I observe the gestures 
of an angry man, the contortions of his counte- 
nance, the glare of his eyes, or if I hear his 
words and mark their violence, I infer from 
these outward signs that he is really angry. 

Also memory preserves in our minds the truths 
which we have imbibed, I know of my own 
knowledge that at a certain time yesterday I 
was hungry. I knew it at the time, and as 
I have the power of memory, the knowledge 
remains. But I infer, that an hour ago my 
informant told me truly there had been a ship- 
wreck, for even at the time he told me I was 
obliged to infer the truth. 

Again, according to Mill (vol. i. p. 9), ''it is 
universally allowed, that the existence of mat- 
ter or of spirit, of space or of time, is in its 
nature unsusceptible of being proved." These 
things we know immediately. 



INTELLECTUAL TRUTH. 13 

In regard to some truths, it may perhaps 
be controverted, whether they are to be con- 
sidered as known directly, or by inference, or 
possibly in both ways. It seems however un- 
necessary, especially at the present stage of our 
inquiry, to pursue these topics further. Suffice 
it to remark, that much the greater portion of our 
knowledge depends upon inference.* The term 
" self-evident" has been applied to truths which 
are known immediately. All truths however 
which we admit must have something that shews 
them to the human mind, and in this they differ 
from such truths as are hidden from our view. 
On what ground soever, therefore, propositions 
claim assent, we are still at liberty to adhere 
to our definition; i.e. whatever shews us that 
things are true, may be called the evidence 
of such truth. 



* " The power of reasoning (says Reid) is justly accounted 
one of the prerogatives of human nature, because by it many 
important truths have been and may be discovered, which 
without it would be beyond our reach: yet it seems to be 
only a kind of crutch to a limited understanding. We can 
conceive an understanding superior to human, to which that 
truth appears intuitively, which we can only discover by 



, ( 14 ) 



CHAPTER IV. 

VARIOUS DEGREES OF EVIDENCE, SHEWING THAT 
THINGS HAVE BEEN, ARE, WILL BE. 

In their considerations of abstract truth, men 
are sometimes apt to imagine that the consti- 
tution of nature might have been different from 
what it is: evidence (they think) might in all 
cases have shewn them with absolute demon- 
stration, that things have been, are, will be, 
have not been, are not, will not be : or, in other 
words, truth and falsehood might have been 
always plain, and error physically impossible. 
But experience shews that such is not the con- 
dition of man. Our faculties are limited. We 
learn things by evidence of various degrees in 
strength and cogency. It is physically possible, 
that even in cases where we rely upon the 
evidence of our senses, we may be mistaken: 
for sometimes the sensibility of the organs them- 
selves is impaired; at other times they are ren- 
dered inefficient by the novelty and strangeness 
of the circumstances in which their powers are 
required. So again in regard to inference : I 



VARIOUS DEGREES OF EVIDENCE. 15 

may confide in the veracity of a witness, still 
I know that men do not always speak truth. 
Hence, though we ever desire great strength 
of proof, and sometimes indeed with a morbid 
craving, our circumstances nevertheless are such 
that we are obliged to estimate inferior degrees 
of evidence : and how much soever we may wish 
to be at once assured that things are certainly 
true or certainly false, we yet weigh, laboriously 
it may be and with diligence, that which shews 
they are probably true, or doubtful, or probably 
false. 

There is one species of evidence which forces 
conviction with wonderful power. Thus, for 
instance, if it be granted that the definitions 
in Euclid's Elements are consistent, and the 
axioms true, we infer the equality of the angles 
at the base of an isosceles triangle with over- 
whelming and irresistible strength: every rea- 
sonable mind is at once compelled to recognition, 
and perceives that no objection can for an in- 
stant stand.* The process of reasoning thus 
employed is called Mathematical. 

It is certain that those things which we re- 
ceive directly,! are admitted with a very high 

* " Every link (it is said) of the Mathematical chain is 
of equal, that is,- the utmost strength." 
t See last Chapter. 



16 VARIOUS DEGREES OF EVIDENCE. 

degree of assurance. " What one sees or feels, 
whether bodily or mentally, one cannot but 
be sure that one sees or feels. No science is 
required for the purpose of establishing such 
truths; no rules of art can render our know- 
ledge of them more certain than it is in itself. 
There is no logic for this portion of our know- 
ledge."* 

Again, the testimony of witnesses is of re- 
markable cogency. Men naturally speak the 
truth, unless there be some motive inducing 
them to lie. But in any given case I may 
know the character of a witness, and the cir- 
cumstances under which he delivers his testi- 
mony. I may hence be altogether convinced 
that his statements are true, more especially 
if essentially probable, or confirmed by inde- 
pendent witnesses. What but the force of united 
testimony assures us that Louis XVI., king of 
France, was beheaded'? If the general of an 
army employs a guide, who knows that if he 
misleads, he will instantly be put to death, such 
knowledge is a security more or less powerful 
for his truth. If a minister of the British Crown 
states in parliament, that he has just received 
intelligence of a serious insurrection in some 

* See Mill again. 



VARIOUS DEGREES OF EVIDENCE. 17 

part of Europe, known to be disaffected to its 
government, who can doubt his veracity? 

So also inferences, not mathematical, nor those 
which shew the truth of testimony, may yet be 
deduced from circumstances of which we have 
certain knowledge, in such a way that the power 
of the inferences may be overwhelming. There 
has been a violent hailstorm (suppose). It 
breaks the skylights of your house. After it 
has ceased, you walk into your garden, and find 
every pane in the green-house (which half-an- 
hour ago you saw entire) demolished. The 
inference that the hail has destroyed the glass 
is irresistible. From one o'clock a.m. to four, 
snow has fallen : early in the morning I observe 
the footmarks of a hare impressed on my field : 
I may safely conclude, that in the last few hours 
such an animal has really crossed the land. On 
the shore of an island in the Pacific inhabited 
by naked savages, a mariner finds a seal, worked 
with all the skill of a jeweller, and bearing an 
English device. At least he may infer that the 
savages were not the artists. 

But again, there is plainly an innumerable 
multitude of truths, which in the common 
business of life we are perpetually required to 
infer ; though it be acknowledged that the 
inferences are less close than the inferences 



18 VARIOUS DEGREES OF EVIDENCE. 

of mathematicians, less cogent than those by 
which we receive very strong testimony, or 
than such as we have just been contemplating. 
For example, you receive perhaps a letter by 
the post; signed apparently by a person with 
whose handwriting you are acquainted ; bearing 
the post-mark of a town where you know him 
to be; conveying such information as he might 
be likely to transmit; written in his customary 
style. You are not at all disposed to think that 
the letter is other than genuine ; your confidence 
is strong ; you are ready to act thereupon. Yet 
the proof has not the strength of mathematical 
reasoning. Your letter, after all, may be a 
forgery. The evidence however is of that highly 
probable character, which experience shews is 
sufficient for the ordinary purposes of life. It 
is so powerful, that it convinces you of the truth 
sought to be established, and compels you to the 
assumption thereof, if your conduct is concerned. 
It sometimes happens, that a variety of cir- 
cumstances, each of which individually may be 
of small importance, do, by their combined effect, 
establish a fact to a very high degree of as- 
surance. A man has been convicted of murder, 
upon a fully sufficient chain of circumstantial 
evidence. Assuredly the punishment assigned 
to the crime is dreadful; and there may have 



VARIOUS DEGREES OF EVIDENCE. 19 

been a difficulty in fully appreciating the force, 
derived from union, of the facts which proved 
guilt. Accordingly it has been said by one 
whose feelings were shocked, that he as a jury- 
man would never convict a man accused of 
murder upon circumstantial evidence. Such a 
declaration, originating in kindness, was never- 
theless totally indefensible. Circumstances which, 
when isolated, shew nothing, may by union 
produce an irresistible force of evidence. The 
person by whom that declaration was made, 
would have received direct testimony. Yet 
may not a witness lie] May we not conceive 
a body of circumstances, all tending to the esta- 
blishment of the same fact, with such clearness 
and power, that it may be more improbable 
those circumstances should mislead, than a wit- 
ness should lie ? If so, we have a test by which 
to try the relative weight of evidence in the two 
cases. Indeed, as regards the attainment of 
truth, it may matter little, of what kind be 
the evidence adduced. We chiefly consider, 
whether it exhibits such a high degree of pro- 
bability, as to produce conviction in the mind 
of him to whom it is addressed. 

It is not long since the minds of men were 
occupied by the consideration of a remarkable 
trial at Norwich. In this case the union of 

C2 



20 VARIOUS. DEGREES OF EVIDENCE. 

many circumstances clearly proved the guilt of 
the accused. An armed man, whose counte- 
nance is disguised, with unexampled boldness 
enters a house inhabited by numerous inmates, 
kills the proprietor and his son, wounds the son's 
wife and one of the servants, and so escapes. 
Several eye-witnesses, under the solemn sanc- 
tion of an oath, declare their confident opinion, 
that a certain tenant of the deceased is the 
man: they judge by his general manner and 
bearing, by the appearance of his head, and the 
peculiar mode in which he carries it : the pro- 
bability of their judging rightly is admitted 
from the consideration that they have been 
constantly accustomed to see the accused, and 
thus have had opportunities of becoming well 
acquainted with his personal carriage and de- 
meanour. It is testifie-d moreover by a woman, 
who has lived in an improper intimacy with 
the prisoner, that he was absent from his own 
residence, distant a mile from the scene of the 
murders, for an hour and a half at the very 
time they were perpetrated : immediately before 
this absence, he was sorrowful and uttered words 
implying that he meditated some difficult enter- 
prize : after his return he was pale and agitated : 
and in the course of the succeeding night, he told 
this woman to state, in reply to any questions 



VARIOUS DEGREES OF EVIDENCE. 21 

which might be asked, that his absence from 
home had not been for more than ten minutes. 
It is proved farther, that the accused has, on 
several occasions previous to the murders, ex- 
hibited hostile feehngs to the deceased, has in 
feet pubHshed a pamphlet shewing his enmity : 
again, he has drawn up forged documents, 
signed, as is pretended, by the elder of the 
murdered men, which documents could scarcely 
be established while he remained alive to deny 
the signature. 

Such are the principal circumstances on which 
the accusation rests. The evidence is strength- 
ened and the effect heightened by a variety 
of minor facts. The prisoner adduces much 
irrelevant matter, and tells a most improbable 
story in his defence. 

It is admitted however that the woman with 
whom he cohabited, did in her first deposition 
state, that he really had not been absent more 
than ten minutes; and therefore her two ac- 
counts differed in a matter of essential import- 
ance. Nevertheless her last declaration is given 
with such appearance of truth, and she so well 
sustains the severe cross-examination, to which 
she is subjected for many hours, that the jury 
believe her testimony. Accordingly, after a long 
inquiry, the accused is found guilty; a great 



22 VARIOUS, DEGREES OF EVIDENCE. 

criminal is deservedly punished; and society 
receives the only compensation which under 
the circumstances can be awarded.* 

It not unfrequently occurs, that the admission 
of truth depends upon a right decision between 
conflicting evidence; and hence perhaps arise 
some of the greatest difficulties to our limited 
capacities. Let us again borrow illustration from 
the proceedings of our courts of justice. Wit- 
nesses, it may be, depose to the truth of certain 
facts ; other witnesses make declarations incon- 
sistent with the statements of the former. One 
says the prisoner was at a certain time in a given 
place; another, that he saw him at the same 
time in a place a hundred miles distant. "We 
come to the conclusion therefore, that one of the 
two says what is untrue. We are perplexed, 
and can only be extricated by considering various 
other circumstances connected with the matter 
in hand. The witnesses are cross-examined; 
the statements they make in the course of this 



* The strength of evidence arising from the union of 
many arguments is beautifully illustrated by Reid: "Such 
evidence (he says) may be compared to a rope made up 
of many slender filaments twisted together. The rope has 
strength more than sufficient to bear th« stress laid upon 
it, though no one of the filaments of which it is composed 
would be sufficient for that purpose." 



VARIOUS DEGREES OF EVIDENCE. 23 

cross-examination are put together, and weighed 
jointly ; their manner and behaviour during the 
inquiry are estimated ; their character, it may 
be, is known; a multitude of circumstances, 
which it is impossible to enumerate, influences 
the minds of those who are appointed to judge; 
and thus, in the end, possibly truth is elicited. 

A curious example of conflicting evidence 
recently occurred in the county of Kent. A 
woman walking along the streets of Dover at 
an early hour in the morning, is attacked by 
a soldier and robbed of her money. She im- 
mediately proceeds to the barracks, and makes 
her complaint to the military authorities; the 
soldiers are all ordered to appear before her, 
and she singles out the man. She declares his 
identity in a court of justice, such declaration 
being of course confirmed by an oath. Her 
testimony is given in a clear and direct manner, 
and no one admits the idea that she intends 
to deceive. Here then prima facie is strong 
evidence of the guilt of the accused. But two 
other witnesses appear, oflicers of his regiment, 
who aflirm that at the time of the robbery they 
saw him asleep in his quarters at the barracks. 
In consideration of their assertions, the prisoner 
is acquitted. , 

With reference to the testimony of the woman 



24 VARIOUS DEGREES OF EVIDENCE. 

it may be observed, that if one person has never 
seen another, except for a short time under 
exciting circumstances, a subsequent mistake as 
to identity does sometimes occur; whereas, if 
you are well acquainted with any one, you at 
a single glance recognize his features. 

In the case of the soldier there was a contest 
of probabilities. The stronger evidence lay on 
the side of the accused. But if the probabilities 
had been equal he would have been entitled 
to an acquittal, since it is the business of an 
accuser to prove his allegations. 

Thus then, in a manner like to that in which 
men act as individuals, the business of our courts 
is transacted. Truth (say) is obtained, (it may 
be after diligent and laborious search, not as 
in the simple case in which we know that fire 
will warm or scorch), still it is obtained as a 
mean to an end: i.e. whenever an allegation 
is established by sufficient proof, it is so es- 
tablished, in order that the judge may act for 
the good of society, in accordance with the prin- 
ciple of choosing the good and rejecting the 
evil. He therefore directs his conduct suitably 
to the truth that is discovered, and inflicts a 
punishment which may suffice for the terror 
of evil-doers, and, as far as possible, for the 
suppression of crime. 



VARIOUS DEGREES OF EVIDENCE. 25 

From what has been said, it easily appears 
that probable evidence, even such as is sufficient 
to produce conviction, admits an infinite number 
of degrees. Thus, suppose the certainty of a 
fact is established by the testimony of several 
credible witnesses — if you please, four. You 
are here convinced. But if one or even two 
were withdrawn, you would still have sufficient 
proof If again, instead of four, you had five, 
six, seven, eight, any number; each additional 
witness would give additional confirmation. 

Much more then may the degrees be mul- 
tiplied, if we take into account not only evidence 
causing conviction, but that also which shews 
a thing to be in common language "probably 
true,"* although such evidence be not altogether 
sufficient to convince the mind. 



* In common language, when we say that "a thing is 
probably true," we scarcely contemplate such strength of 
evidence as arises from the concurrent testimony of two 
or three unsuspected and independent witnesses. What we 
do contemplate may be exemplified in such instances as 
the following. If I, a healthy man, not advanced in years, 
undertake to write this treatise, it is probably true that 
I shall live to accomplish it. Again, it is probably true 
that in the first fortnight of next April there will be showers 
of rain. Some persons, however, may perhaps be shocked 
by hearing the mention of the word "probable" in cases 
where the evidence is of a very high character, and where 



26 VARIOUS DEGREES OF EVIDENCE. 

Probable evidence therefore manifestly admits 
innumerable degrees. There are innumerable 
degrees of that species which compels conviction; 
innumerable also of that which is implied, when 
we say a thing is probably true. 

Butler says, " That which chiefly constitutes 
probability is implied in the word Likely, i.e, 
like some truth or true event, veri simile J" 
Again, he speaks of such likeness as begetting in 
us a " presumption, opinion, and full conviction, 
which the human mind is formed to receive 



they may conceive that the only proper term is "certain." 
Still, though a conviction produced upon the mind be thus 
overwhelming, the expression "probable evidence" may be 
allowed as philosophically correct. "A low presumption 
(writes Butler) often repeated will amount even to moral 
certainty. Thus a man's having observed the ebb and flow 
of the tide to-day, affords some sort of presumption, though 
the lowest imaginable, that it may happen again tomorrow ; 
but the observation of this event for so many days and 
months and ages together, as it has been observed by man- 
kind, gives us a full assurance that it will." Again, with 
reference to the same subject, " No man (he says) can make 
a question but that the sun will rise tomorrow, and be 
seen, where it is seen at all, in the figure of a circle, and 
not in that of a square." In common language I might 
say, that if 1 go to London tomorrow, I shall find the 
general aspect of the town much the same as it was yes- 
terday. Yet any one might have made a similar remark 
in regard to Lisbon, who proposed going thither on the 
day of the earthquake. 



VARIOUS DEGREES OF EVIDENCE. 27 

from it, and which it does necessarily produce 
in every one." As has already been remarked, 
how much soever we may wish at once to be 
assured that things are certainly not true or 
certainly true, we are yet obliged laboriously to 
weigh what shews them to be probably not 
true or doubtful or probably true. According 
to Butler, " doubt as much presupposes evidence, 
lower degrees of evidence, as belief presupposes 
higher, and certainly higher still. Any one 
who will a little attend to the nature of evidence, 
will easily carry this observation on, and see that 
between no evidence at all, and that degree of 
it which affords ground of doubt, there are as 
many intermediate degrees, as there are between 
that degree which is the ground of doubt and 
demonstration."* 

It may be well to conclude this chapter with 
the following observations of Butler. " Probable 
evidence in its very nature affords but an im- 
perfect kind of information ; and is to be con- 
sidered as relative only to beings of limited 



* He considers the case of an even chance to be that 
in which doubt is implied; and in using the expression 
"where there is no evidence at all/' he contemplates "a 
number of facts so and so circumstanced, which should 
accidentally come into the mind," against the truth of which 
there would be a presumption of millions to one. 



28 VARIOUS DEGREES OF EVIDENCE. 

capacities. For nothing, which is the possible 
object of knowledge, whether past, present, or 
future, can be probable to an infinite intelligence: 
since it cannot but be discerned, as it is in itself, 
certainly true or certainly false. But to us pro- 
bability is the very guide of life." 



( 29 ) 



CHAPTER V. 



DIFFICULTIES OF THE INQUIREE. 

But we may now suppose that our inquirer, 
having accompanied us in such a train of 
thought as has been developed in the preceding 
chapters, may find himself somewhat perplexed 
by the conclusions which have been exhibited : 
he may feel difficulty in admitting that things 
are, have been, will be, and in conducting himself 
agreeably to such admission ; when confessedly 
the evidence is only of a probable and not of 
a demonstrative character ; nay more, when it is 
presented under various shades and degrees of 
probability, to which it is difficult to assign a 
fixed and definite limit. 

" I am willing (he may say) fully to recognize 
a great portion of what has been adduced. I 
know when I am angry, sorrowful, joyful. I am 
convinced of the reality of what 1 hear and see. 
Wherever, again, I admit the premises of a 
proposition in Euclid, I accept the inferences, 
which so inevitably follow that it is impossible 



30 DIFFICULTIES OF THE INQUIRER. 

to deny them. Moreover I am not unwilling to 
receive testimony of a high order. Assuredly the 
Duke of Wellington did conquer the French at 
Waterloo. Ordinarily too I helieve the assertions 
of witnesses whose character is irreproachable. 
But my mind being thus prepared to receive 
truths which I know directly,* and to admit the 
principle of inference, you require me to extend 
my concessions; not only to draw inferences 
which appear somewhat loose from things that 
I know immediately of my own knowledge, and 
to draw rigorously close inferences fr'om premises 
of which I am obliged, with some difficulty per- 
haps, to infer the truth; but moreover, from 
premises in regard to which I feel difficulty, you 
bid me deduce inferences with respect to which 
I feel difficulty likewise ; and so, even in matters 
of great importance, you would persuade me to 
act. Now though conclusions thus obtained 
may be supported with some colour of pro- 
bability, still am I embarrassed : for my imagi- 
nation points out ways, in which it is physically 
possible that I may be deceived; and what is 
there to guarantee me from error] But again, 
there is perhaps something more than mere 
imagination, L e, evidence of real weight, shew- 

* See Chap. iii. 



DIFFICULTIES OF THE INQUIRER. 31 

ing a possibility of the negative of such asser- 
tions as you, upon the strength of a certain body 
of probable evidence allege to be true ; yet you 
still demand my assent to the truth of your 
allegations, as a preliminary to action. You 
speak even of a contest of probabilities. You 
lead me on, step by step, from admissions which 
T cannot avoid, until I find myself altogether 
startled by the contemplation of the position in 
which you endeavour to place me. For the 
truth of what you say, you appeal to experience. 
You declare that such is the common course of 
human life and conduct, and that indeed we are 
forced thus to act. You illustrate your assertion 
by reference to the course of proceedings in our 
courts of law : and what is thus recognized by 
the common sense of men, is no doubt worthy 
of consideration. 

" My experience, however, is limited. The 
prospect of life and action lies before me ; while 
the retrospect is little more than that of boyhood. 
In regard to the trial at Norwich, may it not be 
said, that if the defence had been more skilfully 
conducted, the appearance of the case would 
have been much modified ? The prisoner might 
have abstained from all irrelevant matter. He 
need not have adduced his improbable story, 
which was at once considered a falsehood. It 



32 DIFFICULTIES OF THE INQUIRER. 

was open to him to have alleged that the cir- 
cumstance of his known hostility to the murdered 
man, marked as it was by the circulation of a 
pamphlet, had predisposed the minds of the 
servants ; and accordingly, when they saw the 
disguised assassin, a person of the same stature 
and proportions as himself, they at once errone- 
ously concluded that he was of necessity the 
man. The accused did indeed endeavour to 
make it appear that the woman with whom he 
cohabited might naturally entertain vindictive 
feelings ; for he had refused to marry her, and 
intended to break off the connexion: and it 
might have been contended, with some colour 
of reason, that as she had contradicted herself 
in a matter of very great importance, and was 
therefore proved to be false, her testimony could 
not under any circumstances avail. Besides, it 
was admitted by implication in the opening 
speech of the counsel for the prosecution, that 
there was room for clear proof of an alibi,* and 
that such proof, if the prisoner could adduce it, 
would establish his innocence : did not the pos- 
sibility then of this alibi shew the possibility 
of innocence 1 Ought men therefore, under 



* " It would behove the prisoner (he said) to shew where 
he was at the time of the murder." 



DIFFICULTIES OF THE INaUIRER, 33 

such circumstances, to accept the guilt of the 
accused as a fixed and certain truth, on which 
to adopt so serious a measure as the deliberate 
destruction of human life ? 

" Moreover, it has been recently stated in 
parliament, as a certain truth, that in England 
innocent men have not unfrequently been 
hanged. 

" But as regards the case of the soldier at 
Dover. Here in the first instance you had pro- 
bable evidence of guilt ; so that the jury would 
have convicted him, and he would actually have 
suffered punishment, had not witnesses, who 
knew him, shewn that he was asleep. May 
not what would have happened in his case, if 
there had not been such exculpatory testimony, 
happen in any case similar in all respects, save 
this, that equally strong evidence can not be 
brought forward in defence 1 And may not thus 
the most serious errors be committed 1 

" Under such difficulties therefore I crave 
ftirther explanation and information." 



D 



. ( 34 ) 



CHAPTER VI. 

ANSWERS TO THE OBJECTIONS OF THE PRECEDINGr 
CHAPTER. 

We must now therefore endeavour to mitigate 
or to answer the objections of our inquirer, 
and accordingly we may perhaps be allowed to 
present to him some such observations as the 
following. 

" You say that your experience is limited : you 
are yet but young. Be it so. But you there- 
fore owe, and are probably willing to pay, respect 
to the declarations of others who have had op- 
portunities of more extensive observation than 
yourself, and of whose honesty you are con- 
vinced. Such persons will unanimously testify 
what they have learned by many years' experience 
of the common aifairs of life ; i, e. that men both 
must and do continually act upon belief much 
less strong than is produced by means of the 
senses; upon inferences many degrees less close 
than those of mathematical proof; in short, upon 
the impressions caused by probable evidence. 



ANSWERS TO OBJECTIONS. 35 

Where indeed they can get such proof as you 
wiUingly admit, they gladly take it ; but where 
it is not to be obtained, they are content with 
the lower sort. According to Jeremy Taylor, 
"in moral things there cannot ordinarily be 
a demonstrative or mathematical certainty; and 
in morality we call that certain, that is a thing 
to be followed and chosen, which oftentimes 
is but very highly probable; and many things 
do not attain that degree." Moreover, the ex- 
perience of mankind in general convinces them, 
that by taking this highly probable evidence, 
they ordinarily obtain truth: after they have 
acted, fresh events continually arise, which verify 
the soundness of the principles on which they 
have proceeded. 

" Again, though it be confessed that your ex- 
perience has been but short, still it may teach 
you much. Even in childhood persons are pre- 
pared for the difficulties of future life. As a 
child you received without hesitation whatever 
information or instruction was communicated by 
your parents or teachers ; in fact, you placed con- 
fidence in their superior knowledge, and rever- 
enced their authority. Living under a system of 
management and discipline, you were constantly 
obliged to judge upon probable evidence (even 
5uch as now creates difficulty to yom* mind), 

d2 



36 ANSWERS TO THE OBJECTIONS OF 

what were the will and intentions of your su- 
periors ; of what they would be likely to approve, 
of what to disapprove. Again, you believed 
the statements of your schoolfellows and play- 
mates in matters in which you were interested. 
If indeed experience proved that one of them 
was deceitful and treacherous, you knew how 
to estimate the value of such experience, and 
in cases where he might have a motive for false- 
hood, to doubt his truth. Still you knew how 
to discriminate between him and others who 
had never been suspected. 

" Even at this early period of life, a number 
of slight circumstances, which when isolated 
shewed nothing, did by their combined effect 
frequently manifest the characters of those with 
whom you were connected, and accordingly did 
influence your conduct. It is possible that you 
may have even been required to judge between 
conflicting probabilities. At all events, you were 
continually compelled to appreciate the force 
of probable evidence, and were thus ordinarily 
led to truth, of which truth subsequent ex- 
perience has no doubt supplied numerous veri- 
fications. 

" But w^e may probe this matter more deeply. 
It is clear that you will not, neither ought you 
to stop at this point of your investigation. You 



THE PRECEDING CHAPTER. 37 

have been brought up then under authority, 
and initiated in the elements of religion. You 
have been taught to acknowledge the existence 
and attributes of God ; the relation of man to 
God; the law said to be written in man's 
heart;* the truth of Scripture; the natural 
state of man, a state of sin, that is trans- 
gression of God's law; the nature and extent 
of human responsibility ; the existence of man in 
a future state; a judgment after death. These 
things, I say, you have received with child-like 
simplicity and docility upon the declarations of 
others. But now you are investigating the 
foundations of all belief; your mind has been 
turned to the appreciation of evidence: it will 
be therefore but a continuation of the same 
course of thought to inquire into the stability 
of your religion. When you shall have acknow- 
ledged such stability, you will have obtained 
a new illustration of principles which you have 
already been contemplating. Moreover the mat- 



* Rom. ii. 15. See the Preface. Dugald Stewart speaks 
of the reverence due to ''morality as the divine law, and 
to those essential principles of the human frame, which bear 
the manifest signature of the divine workmanship." Persius 
writes : 

Compositum' jus fasque animo, sanctosque recessus 
Mentis, et incoctum generoso pectus honesto. 



38 ANSWERS TO OBJECTIONS. 

ters proposed to you are of highest importance, 
and therefore worthy of most profound consider- 
ation. If you are convinced that what is alleged 
in regard to religion is true, your estimate of 
what is good and evil, and of the means proper 
to attain your ends, may and probably will be 
considerably modified; and thus again your re- 
ligious meditations will aid you in the voyage 
on which you have embarked. But further, 
when you are convinced of the solidity of that 
basis on which rests your religious faith, fresh 
light (trust, we pray you, for a short time to mere 
authority) will probably burst upon your mind ; 
and your difficulties in regard to other moral 
truths may be lessened or vanish." 



( 39 ) 



CHAPTER VIL 

BECOaNITION OF CERTAIN TRUTHS OF NATURAL 
RELIGION. 

So that our inquirer is now again reduced to 
a pause. He has been drawn aside, in what he 
may perhaps think the way of digression, to the 
consideration of questions, which in his outset 
he did not contemplate. The deep interest how- 
ever of what is proposed, its natural connexion 
with his previous train of thought, and the hope 
of obtaining further knowledge in regard to 
matters which have already perplexed his mind, 
may probably move him to fresh meditation. 

" If the things alleged by teachers of religion, 
he may argue, are true, how certain it is that 
they are of immense importance not only to the 
world in general, but also personally and par- 
ticularly to myself While on the one hand 
religion holds out high privileges and advantages, 
and she.ws God as a friend and protector, on the 
other hand it denounces threatenings, and warns 
me against the attempts of a treacherous, in- 
visible, and powerful adversary. What then 



40 REGOGNITION OF CERTAIN TRUTHS 

are the evidences of religion ? If it was in any 
way questionable to a man, whether he had or 
had not been appointed heir to an estate; or 
if he had ground for apprehension lest some 
grievous temporal calamity should befal him, 
some enemy oppress him ; in either of these 
cases would he not make inquiry, if able so to 
do, in order that he might take measures for 
attainment or protection 1 In choosing the good, 
therefore, and rejecting the evil, I may not be 
content with the narrow range to which my 
thoughts have hitherto been confined : but it 
behoves me to consider the inferences which 
arise from the contemplation of my position with 
regard to God, no less than my relation to man : 
I must take into account the things of eternity 
as well as those of time." 

It is not necessary for our present purpose, to 
follow the inquirer into the details of evidence, 
which he now proceeds to investigate. Let us 
suppose that the proper books, Paley's Natural 
Theology, and others, are put into his hands. 
We may conceive him then, after some time and 
much scrutiny, to arrive at the certainty that 
God is; that He is moreover such as He is 
represented to be, a Being of perfect truth, jus- 
tice, wisdom, benevolence ; that He is almighty 
and knows all things ; that He created and still 



OF NATURAL RELIGION. 41 

preserves, sustains, and governs the world; that 
again, man, having within him a natural appro- 
bation and love of truth, justice, benevolence, 
recognizes some things as essentially right and 
of good-desert, rejects others as wrong and of ill- 
desert, and hereby shews the law of God written 
in his heart. Let the inquirer (I say) admit 
these things. An important investigation how- 
ever still remains : the truth of Scripture is to 
be considered ; and it may be well that as a pre- 
liminary he should again consider the weight of 
highly probable evidence. He now approaches 
this question in a state of mind better prepared 
than formerly, inasmuch as he appreciates things 
of which his ideas were once but indistinct, and 
is fully convinced of truths of which we shall 
presently see the bearing upon the matter in 
hand. 



( ^2 ) 



CHAPTER VIII. 



OF MORAL CERTAINTIES. 



" Since the Creator (he may argue) has in 
various ways shewn His intentions with respect 
to the manner in which He designs His creatures 
to direct their conduct, is it not clear that He 
has intended us to assume highly probable 
evidence, as the index of truth, in matters of 
temporal interest wherein we are concerned to 
act 1 For having so placed and connected men 
together, as we see them placed and connected, 
He of course knew that the effect would be to 
compel them to this assumption. Since He has 
acted therefore in such a manner as to force us 
to admit highly probable evidence, we may infer 
that He intended the admission. But a notice 
conveyed by inference is sufficient for reasonable 
beings who have the power of drawing infer- 
ences. The intimation then of God's intention 
thus conveyed, is it not in effect a command to 
His creatures, a law] For what is our idea 
of a command or law, but that of the [intention 
of the superior, duly notified to the subject 1 



OF MORAL CERTAINTIES. 43 

" Accordingly, when I receive the testimony of 
credible witnesses, or allow the certainty of facts 
supported by a sufficiently strong chain of cir- 
cumstantial evidence, and so act, I certainly 
fulfil God's law. 

" Now is it not altogether agreeable to the attri- 
butes of the Deity, that a law which He has 
established for the guidance of men should be 
adequate for such guidance ] Are not His laws 
in general sufficient for their purposes, if we 
duly avail ourselves of their efficacy ? And is 
there not in truth great weight in the considera- 
tion, that those who have had better opportunities 
of observation than myself, unanimously declare 
that what naturally would be the case with 
respect to this law of highly probable evidence, 
in reality is so ? And that experience constantly 
evinces the sure results obtained in the daily 
business of life 1 

" On the whole, then, am I not thus led more 
fully to appreciate the nature and character of 
what is called a Moral Certainty, so termed 
doubtless as connected with considerations of 
man's moral conduct. This certainty does in- 
deed depend upon highly probable evidence : 
but then such evidence is supported by principles 
of religion, and strengthened b™y observation of 
results." 



44 OP MORAL CERTAINTIES. 

The mind of our inquirer therefore is now 
subdued and chastened. His considerations are, 
undoubtedly, susceptible of various illustrations. 
Let us endeavour to illustrate them. 

Say then (if you please) that highly probable 
evidence is presented, of certain truths, which 
however do not in the least concern our moral 
conduct ; with regard, for instance, to some ob- 
ject of antiquarian or historical research. Say 
that such evidence is adduced with respect to 
the place whence the builders of Stonehenge 
brought their huge stones, and the means by 
which they were able in remote and probably 
rude ages to move them; or with reference to 
the much canvassed question of the letters of 
Junius. Say again that equally probable evidence 
is adduced in regard to some fact, which, if it 
be true, seriously affects a man's moral conduct ; 
i.e. if it be true, it is proper for him to pursue 
one course, if not true, another ; and that too 
(it may be) in affairs of very great importance. 
Then in either of the first cases we have simply 
to consider the intrinsic weight of the evidence. 
The matter is one of curious speculation, but 
whether the things asserted be true or not, is of 
comparatively little moment. They cannot be 
said to have any important connexion with the 
attributes of God, or the questions of man's con- 



OF MORAL CERTAINTIES. 45 

duct and responsibility. In these cases, then, it 
may be rash to say that we have obtained truth ; 
though perfectly right to assert our possession 
of high probability. But in the last case, the 
intrinsic power of the evidence is strengthened 
by considerations of the Divine character, and 
the relation of God to man. Here then we are 
led to speak of a moral certainty. This is the 
position of jurymen, who may perhaps safely 
declare that they have arrived at a moral cer-/ 
tainty : as did the jury who convicted the crimi- 
nal at Norwich. Indeed, after his execution 
the evidence of guilt was confirmed. For the 
blunderbuss, with which he perpetrated the 
murders, was discovered secreted in his premises, 
while the ramrod fitting the instrument was 
found in the house of his victims. 

Objections and answers to them may some- 
times tend to illustration. Suppose it objected : 
" In adopting your principles with regard to 
moral certainty, you have assumed various things 
as true, viz. the existence and alleged character 
of God, and the facts by which you seek to 
establish certain relations between God and man : 
whereas these very allegations claim recognition 
upon the strength of an accumulation of evi- 
dence of great variety in cogency and power, 
and at all events very difierent in character from 



46 OF MORAL CERTAINTIES. 

the brief and undeniable demonstrations of 
mathematicians. In appealing therefore to the 
elementary doctrines of religion to establish what 
you term moral certainties, you are in fact ap- 
pealing to things which you also characterize 
as moral certainties; and thus indeed assume 
your principles in order to prove your princi- 
ples." In answer to this, it may be said: "It 
is admitted that the great primary truths of 
religion having reference to men's moral con- 
duct, are therefore properly called moral cer- 
tainties : also, though they can be proved so as to 
cause conviction in the human mind, such con- 
viction may be produced, strengthened, ripened 
by an accumulation of evidences of various 
degrees in power; and therefore the manner of 
proof is doubtless different from that of mathe- 
matical deduction. Yet by what man sees every 
day of human life and behaviour, he is prepared 
to expect evidence, thus differing from mathe- 
matical proof, in matters involving conduct. Our 
arguments however are addressed to those whose 
minds are of such a character as to admit not 
only mathematical truth, but also certain first 
grand principles of human conduct; which 
appeal indeed for reception to some minds with 
much greater urgency than to others, to some 
with the accumulated power of many years' 



OF MORAL CERTAINTIES. 47 

experience and observation, to others with 
comparatively small force and efficacy. Minds, 
hov^ever, which fully acknowledge primary con- 
victions of moral truth, may feel difficulties in 
raising a superstructure, and admitting as true 
what is established by inferior, though really 
sufficient evidence : and it is with a hope of 
removing, or at all events lessening such diffi- 
culties, that these pages are written : it is with 
a view of inducing those who cling to the love 
of mathematical demonstration, and yet cannot 
but recognize great elements of moral truth, to 
extend their views. If they will but seriously 
consider how far it may be proper for them, as 
rational beings, to enlarge the sphere which has 
hitherto bounded their acceptance of truth, they 
may perhaps be led to give their full assent to 
propositions, which, though heretofore they have 
been accustomed to consider probable, they have 
still not esteemed certain. 

But to return. " If there be (the inquirer 
may proceed) an eternal state intended for man, 
would it not be agreeable to God's character, that 
the same law of judging upon highly probable 
evidence should be established with regard to 
matters of highest, i.e. eternal interest? In 
temporal affairs we see various degrees of in- 
terest : this principle however of judgment is 



48 OF MORAL CERTAINTIES. 

applicable to all. If it were extended, so as to 
have reference to the things that are eternal, still 
there would be merely a continuation of the 
same rule ; there would be exhibited but a uni- 
formity in the character of the Lawgiver. 

" Is not the law then so extended '? And may 
we not believe that God having appointed this 
law, would (according to His usual dealings with 
men in matters of minor consequence) take care 
that it led to truth in an aiFair of such surpassing 
importance 1 That He would not, in fact, allow 
His creatures thereby to be trifled with and 
mocked 1 May we not therefore reasonably trust, 
that experience will ultimately shew its suffi- 
ciency, and verify the conclusions which we may 
obtain in regard to a future state 1 " 



( 49 > 



CHAPTER IX. 

A FUTURE JUDGMENT. ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF THE 
TRUTH OF CHRISTIANITY. 

Our inquirer therefore, being now as it were 
armed witli certain weapons and instruments for 
further investigation ; appreciating and confiding 
in , their efficacy ; knowing how to use them ; 
and from what he has already obtained, sti- 
mulated to renewed exertion; he is aided (say) 
by the encouragement and assistance of friends, 
and by the published productions of the learned: 

" God (he may argue) has manifestly given 
various laws to men; and has indicated His 
intention with sufficient clearness and precision, 
that those laws should be obeyed. But what 
are likely to be the consequences of obedience 
or disobedience] How far is this alleged doc- 
trine of human responsibility true] Where is 
man held answerable, if answerable] In this 
world, or in a future state, if there be such a 
state, or in both ] " 

With reference then to these ideas of a future 



50 A FUTURE JUDGMENT. 

existence and of retribution, we may conceive 
him first to look only to the evidence afforded in- 
dependently of revelation. Such evidence, though 
it shews a prospect not clear and bright, does 
still exhibit one not altogether obscure. 

" The sense of justice (he may say) is a prin- 
ciple deeply implanted in the human heart. In- 
timately connected with this are the notions of 
good-desert and ill-desert. Moreover experience 
shews that what may be called moral retributions 
do very frequently take place in this world : such 
in fact is, in numberless instances, a part of the 
course and constitution of nature, ^. e. of the general 
economy and government of the dispensation under 
which we live.* From such cases may we not be 
allowed to infer, that they at all events shew 
a tendency^ to what our sense of good-desert and 
ill-desert leads us to expect, viz. the administra- 



* The heathen poet saw this : 

Raro antecedentem scelestum 

Deseruitpede Poena claudo. — HoR. Od. hi. 2. 31. 

f From the constitution and circumstances of men, Butler 
shews the natural tendency of virtue or vice to produce 
happiness or misery in the present world. To this the 
obstacles are but accidental. Observation of results con- 
firms his argument. These things mark the character of 
the Divine government ; they are " a declaration of the 
Author of nature for virtue and against vice'* " over and 
above the moral nature which He has given us.'^' 



TRUTH OF CHRISTIANITY. 51 

tion of final retribution? Doubtless there are 
cases where we are not able to perceive any such 
tendency, where vice is apparently prosperous 
and triumphant, virtue dejected and despised. 
Be it remembered however, that we do not 
yet know the whole issues and consequences of 
things. But admit that on the one hand this 
success and triumph, on the other this dejection 
and depression, continue to the end of life : have 
we not hence an argument strengthening the 
expectation of a future state ; because our notions 
of good-desert and ill-desert being what they are, 
and being encouraged by what we observe of the 
tendencies of things, we are induced to inquire 
whether what is imperfect will not at length 
probably be consummated'? Since it is not 
consummated in the present state (in which in 
fact how many things are similarly imperfect 
and immature !) will it not be consummated 
in a future life] Le. will not justice at length 
be done in another world ? That is, will there 
not be a future state, and a final retribution 
therein % " 

Our inquirer may illustrate this argument for 
a futurQ state, arising from a consideration of the 
tendencies of things, as Dugald Stewart has done, 
by a most remarkable quotation from Dr. Fer- 
guson. "If the human foetus (he says) were 

E2 



52 A' FUTURE JUDGMENT. 

qualified to reason of his prospects in the womb 
of his parent, as he afterwards may do in his 
range on this terrestrial globe, he might no doubt 
apprehend in the breach of his umbilical, and in 
his separation from the womb, a total extinction 
of life : for how could he conceive it to continue, 
after his only supply of nourishment from the 
vital stock of his parent had ceased 1 He might 
indeed observe many parts of his organization 
and frame, which should seem to have no rela- 
tion to his state in the womb. For what pur- 
pose, he might say, this duct which leads from 
the mouth to the intestines'? Why these bones 
that each apart becomes hard and stiff, while 
they are separated from one another by so many 
flexures or joints ] Why these jaws in particular, 
made to move upon hinges, and these germs of 
teeth, which are pushing to be felt above the 
surface of the gums ] Why the stomach, through 
which nothing is made to pass ] And these 
spungy lungs, so well fitted to drink up the 
fluids, but into which the blood, that passes every 
where else, is scarcely permitted to enter ? 

" To these queries, which the foetus was neither 
qualified to make nor to answer, we are now 
well apprised the proper answer would be : The 
life which you now enjoy is but temporary ; and 
these particulars, which now seem to you so pre- 



TRUTH OF CHRISTIANITY. 53 

posterous, are a provision which nature has made 
for a future course of life which you have to run, 
and in which their use and propriety will appear 
sufficiently evident. 

" Such are the prognostics of a future destina- 
tion that might be collected from the state of the 
foetus; and similar prognostics of a destination 
still future may be collected from present appear- 
ances in the life and condition of man." 

Again, are not all the affairs of life necessarily 
carried on in such a manner that there is a con- 
stant responsibility of man to man, of the inferior 
to the superior] Have not even those who are 
now superior and exercise authority, been at 
some time, at least in their childhood, inferior, 
subject to authority, answerable ? Does not 
then this perpetual training and discipline of the 
mind in a system of authority and responsibility, 
(a discipline and training ordained by God who 
imposed the necessity,) naturally tend to fit and 
prepare us for the notion of rendering account 
to God himself; to whom such responsibility 
seems peculiarly proper as our Creator, Preserver, 
Lawgiver ] Especially if He is our Lawgiver, is 
it not •likely that there is a responsibility by 
which His laws may be vindicated 1 Is not this 
likelihood established both by the reason of the 
thing and by the analogy of human laws 1 



54 A FUTURE JUDGMENT. 

But further, are not these ideas strengthened 
by reflecting upon what were manifestly the 
common sense and feeling of men previously to 
the delivery of this alleged revelation ] Do we 
not learn from ancient writers, to whom the very 
name of Christ was unknown, that an expecta- 
tion was current of a future judgment ] Though 
on such anticipations were built all sorts of ab- 
surdities as to the manner and details of things, 
still the existence of the original principle is 
surely of weight, as shewing the general bias of 
the human mind, and evincing, it may be, the 
presages of natural conscience.* 



* Other arguments for a future state, derived from the 
light of nature, are collected by Stewart. The natural senti- 
ment of remorse, following guilt, has often been urged. 

Stewart supposes a murder perpetrated without any human 
witness, and without any circumstance which could lead to 
detection. Experience (he says) shews us that remorse has 
been sufficient to poison all the enjoyments which luxury 
could offer to the murderer, and even to render life itself 
insupportable. The blood he has spilt has seemed to call 
aloud to heaven for vengeance; and he has conceived his 
punishment in a future state to be the more certain, because 
he has made no atonement while here to the society he has 
injured. Accordingly, many years after the perpetration of 
his crime, a murderer has been frequently known to feel his 
existence so intolerable a burden, that he has voluntarily 
revealed his own guilt, and delivered himself up to an igno- 
painious death. 



TRUTH OF CHRISTIANITY. 55 

The inquirer then, earnestly desiring what- 
soever light has been afforded to mankind upon 
subjects of such high importance, and knowing 
that Scripture professes authoritatively to assert 
the doctrine of future retribution, may now 
probably be induced studiously to weigh the 
evidences of Christianity. 

While on the one hand, his mind hungers 
and thirsts for truth ; on the other hand, the 
authority of Scripture is presented to him with 
no ordinary prima facie claims for consideration, 
examination, recognition. 

For consider the attention due from every 
man, not merely from ardent investigators of 
knowledge, to such an alleged revelation. Sup- 
pose it declared with any show of probability, or 

We remember the description of Orestes after the murder 
of his mother : 

M.EV. T/g a aTvoWvcnv voaoQ ; 

Op. 'H i,vveatc, otl avvoiha Zeiv eipyaaixevoQ, 

EuRiP. Orest. 
So we have Shakspeare's delineations in Macbeth and 
Hamlet : 

Diri conscia facti 

Mens habet attonitos, et surdo verbere caedit, 
Qpcultum quatiente animo tortore flagellum. 

Poena autem vehemens 

Nocte dieque suum gestare in pectore testem. — Juv. xiii. 
We find here at least evidences of God's moral govern- 
ment over the world. 



56. A FUTURE JUDGMENT. 

even possibility, that in addition to the law of 
nature, God has also given a v^^ritten exposition 
of His will ; written information too of truths 
concerning human conduct, which it was impos- 
sible for men, otherwise than by revelation, to 
know: it is q:uite clear, that if we regard only 
fitness of behaviour, man i« not at liberty arbi- 
trarily to determine, whether he will neglect or 
consider the intimations which he has received. 
If God, acknowledged to be the Creator, Pre- 
server, Lawgiver, speaks, it behoves man, the 
subject, reverentially to attend. If it be doubt- 
ful whether God has or has not spoken, much 
more if probable that He has, it is the duty of 
man humbly and diligently to inquire. Take 
the analogy of a person acting under a superior 
in the common affairs of human life. Suppose 
a general commanding an army, receives what is 
said to be a notice from the government under 
which he acts : suppose, however, that he is in 
doubt respecting the genuineness of such notice, 
and that means of inquiry are open: is it not 
his duty to inquire ? But assuredly it is alleged 
with at least some appearance of probability, 
nay more, with much authority and power, that 
Scripture really and truly is what it is said to be, 
viz. an authoritative notice from God to man. 
It is recognized by the common consent of the 



TRUTH OF CHRISTIANITY. 57 

wise and learned; acknowledged by the legisla- 
tures of various countries throughout the world, 
so that churches are built and ministers appointed 
to inculcate and explain its doctrines; in this 
country especially, our neighbours, acquaintance, 
and friends profess Christianity ; and we ourselves 
probably have been trained to the observance of 
its precepts, and have witnessed our parents' ac- 
knowledgment of its truth. Scripture therefore 
is prima facie proposed to Englishmen, with no 
small pretensions and claims. Accordingly, if 
they are yet unconvinced, it behoves them, as 
we have seen, to inquire : for thus strongly re- 
commended, it is said to convey the authoritative 
intimation of God their superior. 

In the course of such an investigation, then, 
what sort of evidence is to be expected ] What 
will suffice as a justification of that concurrence 
of the wise and learned, of the recognition of 
legislatures, of the example of multitudes of be- 
lievers ? We are unable to perceive any reasons 
why the usual rules of the divine economy should 
be violated in this more than in other instances. 
Those rules then would altogether be observed 
by a production of highly probable evidence, 
which, as we have before seen, is able to establish 
a moral certainty. It is, I conceive, indisputable 
that an accumulation of such evidence may be 



58 A FUTURE JUDGMENT. 

adduced, of the greatest variety and cogency, of 
such a character as would be more than sufficient 
to convince an impartial jury on a trial for life 
or death. For let any man of a fair and honest 
mind study Scripture itself, with a view to the 
appreciation of its internal evidence ; and let 
him derive external proof from a perusal of the 
works of learned authors, and among these espe- 
cially of Paley's Evidences. 

Thus then it will, I think, appear that in a 
matter of such immense importance, God has 
not dealt out any niggard allowance of proof 
We have seen how strong are the reasons which 
should move men to inquire into the evidences 
of Christianity. Upon such investigation to admit 
its claims, may be deemed an act of proper 
obedience to the law of highly probable evidence. 
After this admission, the mind derives additional 
confirmation from a reflection already mentioned, 
which strengthens all moral evidence, more espe- 
cially then the proofs of Christianity, affecting 
men's conduct in the highest degree, and involv- 
ing interests of inexpressible magnitude. The 
reflection is this : It is difficult to conceive that 
God, our Creator, Preserver, Lawgiver, Judge, a 
God of truth, having given such evidence for 
our guidance, would allow His creatures, subjects, 
and dependent beings thereby to be deceived. 

THE END OF BOOK I. 



BOOK 11. 

CONSDEEATIONS UPON MOEAL EHDENCE, IMMEDIATELY 
SUBSEQUENT TO THE RECOGNITION OE CHRISTIANITY. 



CHAPTER I. 

STATE OF MIND OF THE INQUIRER. NATTTRE AND 
EXTENT OF RESPONSIBILITY. 

Contrast now the position of our inquirer with 
that represented at the commencement of this 
treatise. Disheartened and checked by experi- 
encing the painful eifects of unchastised emotions, 
he had then begun to recognize his powers as 
a rational being, and with eager vehemence to 
inquire, "who will shew us any good]" But 
his investigations have now led him to a recog- 
nition of the great principles of natural and 
revealed religion ; and he perceives that he must 
give his deliberate assent to a variety of pro- 
positions, which though he had formerly received, 
he had still not examined. In regard to truths 
asserted in Holy Writ, he finds that while some 
of them, independently of Scripture, might have 
been scarcely conceivable, and are yet credible ; 
others, .antecedently to revelation, might appear 
possible or probable. 

Accordingly, as on the one hand, the divine 
records contain an authoritative republication of 



62 STATE OF' MIND OF THE INQUIRER. 

the law of nature ;* so, on the other hand, we 
may therein find an answer to our earnest in- 
quiries respecting the certainty of responsibility, 
the eternal existence of man in a future state, 
and a judgment after death. These things are 
explicitly declared. Not only is man a subject 
and a servant, intended according to the intima- 
tions of his own conscience to act in a particular 
manner ; but also (agreeably to the principles 
by which even human governments vindicate 
their laws, human masters demand account from 
their subjects) responsible. Some consequences 
indeed immediately follow some actions, and 
accordingly men do certain things and avoid 
others, naturally it may be said, and as it 
were instinctively : and therefore even herein is 
implied a natural government, and immediate 
responsibility. And as we have seen, moral 
retributions (not on the instant, perhaps, but 
after some time) do occur even in this life. 
Yet will the final consummation and arrange- 
ment of all things be effected in a future state, 
when shall be given unto every man according 
to his works. 

While the inquirer then has gained these con- 
clusions of inestimable value, the steps by which 

* Butler's Analogy, Part 11. Chap. V. 



NATURE AND EXTENT OF RESPONSIBILITY. 63 

he has obtained them, and the discipline implied 
in his progress, will have prepared his mind to 
carry on its thoughts to matters of high import- 
ance, which still await them. His enthusiastic 
temperament may probably induce him zealously 
to direct his meditations to the subject of reli- 
gion ; and the connexion between that subject 
and his previous train of reflection will con- 
tinually receive fresh illustration. 

Accordingly, " Being responsible, he may argue, 
it behoves me fully to understand the nature and 
extent of my responsibility. Not only then would 
our ordinary notions of things, and the system of 
discipline under which we live, a system ordained 
by God, impress upon our minds correct ideas 
upon the subject of responsibility : not only 
would our observation of the proceedings of 
inferiors, who in temporal matters render account 
to their superiors, tend to prove that we are 
answerable for the due use or abuse of things or 
powers entrusted to our care and management : 
but Scripture also expressly recognizes this prin- 
ciple in regard to the nature of man's respon- 
sibility to God, in the parable of the Talents.* 
The whole tendency too and scope of Scripture 
shew, that everything I possess, my powers both 

* Matt. XXV. 14. 



64 STATE OF MIND OF THE INQUIRER. 

of body and mind, my wealth, time, and opportu- 
nities are but entrusted to me to be used to the 
honour of the Almighty. Thus St. Paul tells us, 
' Whether ye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do, 
do all to the glory of God.'* Again, our Saviour 
Himself declares, ' Every idle word that men 
shall speak, they shall give account thereof in 
the day of judgment. 'f 

" Is it not altogether reasonable that the Creator, 
Preserver, Redeemer, should require such service 
from those whom He has created, preserved, and 
redeemed? If we owe Him the service of one 
day, do we not owe Him that of all] If it be 
acknowledged that men ara to serve Him in 
matters of great consequence, where shall a line 
be drawn, and how shall it be said that some 
affairs are so trifling, that there is no need to 
think of the Deity as therein concerned 1 In the 
material world, is not His superintending care 
displayed in regard to the smallest insect or 
plant] Why then should He not be equally 
watchful in the moral] What can be deemed 
unimportant if connected with our relation to 
Him ? At all events, our time being a valuable 
talent, the manner of its application must in- 
volve a question worthy of consideration. 

* 1 Cor. X. 31, t Matt. xii. 36, 



NATURE AND EXTENT OF RESPONSIBILITY. 65 

" But suppose it argued that it is impossible to 
accomplish the daily business of life, if we thus 
constantly devote our minds to God: I at least 
have heard it said that there is a habit of thought 
(to be acquired as all other habits are, by frequent 
repetition of acts) whereby we may easily refer 
all our ordinary proceedings to the honour of 
God, so that a devout reflection may continually 
pass through the mind, as thus: 'Now am I 
endeavouring to fulfil the purposes of my exist- 
ence, to carry out the intentions of my God and 
Saviour.' Such a habit need not be any hinder- 
ance to the dispatch of business ; for the mind 
being thus trained, would as it were instinctively 
admit the pious sentiment: just as (to borrow 
the analogy of Jeremy Taylor) a man using 
a knife for the accomplishment of any object, 
entertains a continual care lest he cut his 
hand; nevertheless, this care does not at all 
retard the progress of the business in which he 
is engaged. 

" But in how many salutary ways will such a 
habit of pious reflection operate ! How will it 
tend to chastise or expel all vain and corrupt 
imaginations ! How will it hallow all business ! 
Is not this what is especially contemplated in 
the expression of ' God being in all a man's 
thoughts?'" 



66 STATE OF MIND OF THE INQUIRER. 

" My determination tlien is, humbly to present 
myself, both body and soul, a living sacrifice unto 
God, which is my reasonable service."* 



* Rom. xii. 1. 



( 67 ) 



CHAPTER IL 

GREAT RESPONSIBILITY IN REGARD TO THE DUE 
ADMISSION OF HIGHLY PROBABLE EVIDENCE. 

But if our inquirer is thus intent upon obeying 
the laws of God, his thoughts may naturally be 
recalled to that law of highly probable evidence 
which has already engrossed so much time and 
consideration. The subject however is not yet 
exhausted, and its importance is manifest. Let 
us then direct our attention to this matter, avail- 
ing ourselves of such additional light as we may 
be able to obtain at the new point of view to 
which we have ascended. 

The doctrine that human responsibility has 
reference to all the laws of God, may of course 
be applied to the law of highly probable evi- 
dence. Not only is it necessary and right that 
man should obey this law, and admit the truths 
thus presented to him as moral certainties ; but 
also for not receiving them he is plainly answer- 
able. 

Moreover, the degree of responsibility is mani- 

f2 



68 GREAT RESPONSIBILITY OF MAN 

festly very great. For a just estimate of moral 
truth lying at the foundation of all right conduct 
must therefore be of incalculable value. Accord- 
ingly we are highly accountable for the proper 
exercise of the highest power committed to our 
trust, viz. the judicial faculty of appreciating that 
which discloses truth. 

On the whole, man being the responsible ser- 
vant of God, and a master naturally giving notice 
to his servant of things intended to be done ; 
highly probable evidence may, in matter respect- 
ing human conduct, be rightly considered as a 
definite and obligatory notice of God to man. 
The question arises in any particular case, Is 
the evidence of the customary character ] Does 
it bear that stamp of probability which marks its 
sufficiency according to the ordinary course of 
human affairs and the common sense of men 1 
Is it the testimony of one or more witnesses'? 
Are they then credible ? Are the facts testified 
conceivable or possible ] Or does the proof depend 
upon a combination of circumstances, which to- 
gether support the conclusion with clearness and 
certainty?* Then in a question involving his 

* It has been sometimes asked, In cases involving con- 
duct, what is the least amount of evidence which will shew 
that a thing has been, is, will be ? In reply to which, it seems 
difficult if not impossible to fix any general rule or measure. 



IN REGARD TO HIGHLY PROBABLE EVIDENCE. 69 

conduct as a responsible agent, man may not 
look upon such unassailable statements of wit- 
nesses, or combined eifect of circumstances, as 
dependent upon a blind chance : he may not 
consider that his reception or non-reception of 
the evidence is exempt from the surveillance of 
his Superior : but must assume the truth of the 
facts presented to him, and proceed to action on 
his responsibility. 

To illustrate this by the proceedings of our 
courts of justice. A subpoena, it maybe, is served 
upon a witness. It is the notice of the court. 
Receiving protection from the laws, and subject to 
their authority, it behoves him to pay due atten- 
tion to those who are legally empowered to sum- 
mon him. The document (suppose) is drawn up 
in the proper form and presented in the cus- 
tomary manner. He may not cavil, as if the tie 
was insufficient to oblige him. He is answerable. 

The conclusions at which we have arrived, 

Nevertheless, on particular occasions a man must judge as 
responsible. Where the difficulties arising from a conflict of 
evidence are not sufficient to justify the withholding a de- 
cision, it is clear that we have no alternative but to admit 
those arguments, which we honestly believe to be the more 
weighty, however slight may be the preponderance. In such 
cases as these where the matter is of importance, there is 
frequently a great moral trial, and a call for prayer to God 
and trust in Him. 



70 GREAT RESPONSIBILITY OF MAN 

tend to illustrate and may themselves be illus- 
trated by various passages of Scripture. We find 
Abraham highly commended, because "being 
not weak in faith, he considered not his ovrn 
body now dead, when he was about an hundred 
years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah's 
womb. He staggered not at the promise of God 
through unbelief,"* Again: "By faith Abraham 
when he was tried, oiFered up Isaac ; and he that 
had received the promises offered up his only- 
begotten son ; of whom it was said, that in Isaac 
shall thy seed be called; accounting that God 
was able to raise him up even from the dead, from 
whence also he received him in a figure." j* On 
these occasions Abraham was plainly compelled 
to judge between conflicting evidence, (see above 
p. 22), He was not misled by the delusions 
of an excited imagination; but must have had 
sufficient proofs that he had really received com- 
munications from God. In the former case, this 
proof, whatever it might have been, was able to 
overpower the evidence derived from a consider- 
ation of the ordinary course of nature and the 
laws of human birth. On the latter occasion it 
was so strong as to overcome not only the feeling 
of parental afi'ection, but also the clear evidence 

* Rom. iv. 19. t Heb. xi. 17. 



IN REGARD TO HIGHLY PROBABLE EVIDENCE. 71 

which convinces a reasonable mind that it is un- 
lawful for a man to kill his son. In the book of 
Exodus we have a lively representation of con- 
flicting emotions in the mind of Moses, as he sees 
the burning though unconsumed bush, and hears 
the voice thence issuing. He thinks of his own 
weakness : " Who am I that I should go unto 
Pharaoh T' God condescends to explain the 
details of things; and gives promises of sup- 
port. Moses however shrinks. New miracles 
are worked to convince him. He is still re- 
luctant. " Oh my Lord, I am not eloquent ; but 
I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue." He 
hears in reply ^ " Who hath made man's mouth 1 
Or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, 
or the blind'? Have not I the Lord] Now 
therefore go ; and I will be with thy mouth, and 
teach thee what thou shalt say." Moses never- 
theless is yet unwilling. He declines to receive 
the notice of his Superior. Accordingly " the 
anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses." 
So again unbelief is laid as a sin to the charge 
of those who refused to admit the claims of 
Christ. The evidence presented to them was 
of such a character that it ought to have con- 
vinced their minds. Unbelief in revealed re- 
ligion is not merely a sin because it is declared 
so to be in Holy Writ, (otherwise the unbeliever 



72 GREAT RESPONSIBILITY OF MAN. 

might allege that rejecting Scripture, he rejected 
all its denunciations): but it is essentially and 
intrinsically a sin, as implying a contempt of 
a primary and fundamental law given by God 
to man, that is to say, the law of highly probable 
evidence* 



( 73 ) 



CHAPTER III. 

MAN IS EVER A RESPONSIBLE JUDGE, ACTING BY 
AUTHORITY. IN MATTERS INVOLVING GREAT IN- 
TERESTS, THE RESPONSIBILITY IS MORE STRONGLY 
FELT. 

In the earlier part of this treatise our attention 
was engrossed by the contemplation of the human 
mind judging upon evidence. We now see that 
we are also to judge by authority. Our notion 
of the authority is this. It is plain that in placing 
man in the world God intended, not that he 
should drag on an unprofitable existence in mere 
idleness^ not that he should devote his powers 
to the attainment of sensible objects considered 
abstractedly, and valued solely for their own 
sake; but that in everything his ultimate aim 
should be the glory of the Creator. To carry 
out such a purpose then, it is necessary that man 
should seek for truth: and to shew him this 
truth evidence is an appointed instrument. Being 
obliged therefore to act, he is compelled to judge, 
as a preliminary to such action ; and therefore he 



74 MAN AN AUTHORISED AND RESPONSIBLE JUDGE. 

has in effect a command, much more an authority 
to judge. If too every thing that he has is but 
entrusted to him as accountable, and if in his 
whole conduct he j^rpetually acknowledges this 
principle, then is he ever a responsible judge 
acting by authority. 

It may serve for illustration, if we contrast 
these maxims with the notions of persons, who 
seem to think that it is proper for them on all 
occasions, not only to form, but also to deliver 
judgments. Hence are promulgated unsound and 
flippant opinions, without authority or evidence, 
sometimes in opposition to both, upon matters 
of the greatest consequence. Against this kind 
of rashness doubtless are directed the texts of 
Scripture, " Judge not, that ye be not judged ";* 
"Who art thou that judgest another man's 
servant *? To his own master he standeth or 
falleth '';-\ " Every one of us shall give account 
of himself to God : let us not therefore judge 
one another any more.":j: But the truly modest 
and humble servant of God fears even to judge 
privately in his own breast, unless upon a prin- 
ciple and with an object which he could exhibit 
even in the presence of his great Creator. If he 
does judge, he knows that his faculties are but 



* Matt. vii. 1. f Rom. xiv. 4. | Rom. xiv. 12, 13. 



RESPONSIBILITY STRONGLY FELT. 75 

limited, and his evidence probable. And before 
he expresses his sentiments to men, he is well 
assured that it becomes him so to do. 

In matters involving great interests, there is 
a high degree of solemnity v^ith which our hearts 
are filled. Our thoughts are more deeply fixed 
upon principles of religion. If we have to act, 
we are naturally most earnest and diligent in 
endeavouring duly to appreciate the evidence 
presented to our minds. We are scrupulous in 
estimating our moral position and responsibility. 
Accordingly our humble appeal to the God of 
truth, to lead us to the attainment of that truth 
of which we crave the possession, tends to beget 
a confidence, that our proper, our only means of 
discovery, the due use of probable evidence, will 
direct us rightly. Otherwise might not the dis- 
pensation under which we live seem harsh? 
Whereas, in the first place, our primary notions 
of the character and attributes of the Creator 
shew a priori that He would not place His 
creatures under such a dispensation: and se- 
condly, experience proves {i, e. experience of the 
things we do know, and are able, with certain 
limitations, to trace from their origin to their 
consequences) that He has not so placed us. 



( ^6 ) 



CHAPTER IV. 

RECAPITULATION OF ELEMENTS COMBINED IN THE 
CHARACTER OF A JUDGE. CONSIDERATION OF 
OBJECTIONS. 

We may now at a glance review the features 
combined in our notion of one who judges. 
Evidence he must have, for it is this which, as 
we have seen, is to shew him truth. Moreover 
if his moral conduct is involved, being compelled 
to act, he is compelled to judge. Hence he 
derives his authority. He is likewise impressed 
with a due sense of responsibility. "Where the 
matter is of importance this sense is more keenly 
felt.* It is clear therefore that great respect is 
due to the decision of such a judge, and will 
assuredly be paid. 

We may now then, in the way of illustration, 
revert to matters which have heretofore per- 



* It has been recorded of an eminent judge of the early- 
part of this century, that it was his habit to spend a consider- 
able portion of the night preceding any trial for life or 
death, at which he was to preside, in earnest and anxious 
prayer. 



CHARACTER OF A JUDGE. 77 

plexed the mind of our inquirer, viz. the pro- 
ceedings of courts of justice. Juries are to judge 
upon evidence and by authority. They are bound 
by a solemn and stringent responsibility. They 
act under the sanction of an oath. Great in- 
terests are at stake. These things then, as men, 
they cannot but (more or less sensibly) feel. 
Accordingly, though jurymen, as all other men, 
sometimes err, and though the regulation that 
twelve persons must be unanimous in their judg- 
ment is at least a strange one, the verdict never- 
theless of a jury is of consideration and weight. 

In regard to such a trial as that which took 
place at Norwich, we may fully believe the 
accused was convicted agreeably to the laws 
given by God to man. What could exceed the 
patient attention both of the judge and of the 
jury ] How strong was the chain of evidence ! 
If God's laws be generally just, then assuredly 
they can be justified in each particular case.* 

But with reference to the objection, that in 
England many innocent persons have been 
hanged: the truth of such an assertion, even if 
proved, would not in any way invalidate our 
reasonings. We know that juries are but falli- 
ble men: and in this world nothing is perfect. 

* See above, pp. 31, 32. 



78 CHARACTER OF A J^UDGE. 

Though principles however be not always duly 
carried out, the principles still remain. 

Let it be granted, however, that though 
maxims be generally true, they may yet admit 
modifications and restrictions. Accordingly, if it 
be possible to conceive that in some particular 
case, involving, if you please, temporal interests 
of great magnitude, we strictly obey the law 
given for the investigation of truth, and yet do 
not obtain the object of our search, still we are 
not justified in complaining. It is our duty to 
recollect that we are not yet acquainted with the 
whole issues and events of things. We cannot 
absolutely assume that what seems harsh is so in 
reality. 

For example ; take the case before adduced, 
that of a jury trying a man for murder. Say 
that the evidence presented is so strong as really 
to justify a verdict of 'guilty.' Yet admit the 
supposition, so improbable that it is only for the 
sake of argument we propose to entertain it, 
nevertheless admit that the man is innocent. 
He' is condemned and executed. Here is ap- 
parently a hardship. No one is in fault. Men 
have done all that they can do. Still a fellow- 
creature dies under the charge of an offence 
which he never committed. In respect however 
to this strange combination of circumstances, let 



CONSIDERATION OF OBJECTIONS. 79 

US take heed to our judgments. We are not 
yet in possession of the full knowledge of the 
matter. Its bearings and relations may perhaps 
be developed in a future state. It is, of course, 
an exception to a general rule. We, who do not 
know all the reasons of things, cannot pretend 
to say, that there are not good grounds for such 
exception. If the jury have done their duty, let 
them be satisfied therewith. In regard to the 
man*s death, no more has happened to him than 
if he had been bitten by a mad dog, or had 
fallen down a precipice : exceptions certainly to 
the general modes of death assigned to mankind, 
but still not so involving the character and attri- 
butes of the Creator, as to afford ground of 
jealousy or suspicion with reference to those 
attributes : on the contrary, as such misfortunes, 
however dreadful, have been at times permitted 
or assigned by Him, this permission or decree 
can doubtless be justified ; though we may not 
perceive the reasons in any particular case, and 
may be shocked for want of such perception. 
Again, if an innocent man is to be punished, let 
him fortify his mind with regard to the disgrace 
incurred, by reflecting that this is one of the 
pains and troubles incident in the dispensation 
under which we live, and by which we are 
prepared for a future state. Though he cannot 



80 CHARACTER OF A JUDGE. 

control events (which are in reality under a 
much wiser and higher superintendance), he has 
nevertheless ample occupation for his mind, in en- 
deavouring to accommodate himself to the afflict- 
ing circumstances in which he is placed, and in 
reaping the fall benefit of that discipline to which 
he is subjected. 

An illustration of what has been given above 
may be derived from considerations of the Scrip- 
tural doctrine of prayer. Assume this doctrine 
to be true; i.e. that it is the duty of man to 
pray in obedience to the revealed will of the 
Deity ; that again God has promised to grant the 
prayers of those who ask in His Son's name. But 
consider also, if it should happen that, earnestly 
and devoutly praying in the prescribed manner, 
we nevertheless do not obtain what we ask, yet 
must we not herein murmur against God. For 
He alone knows all the results of things: He 
may perceive that what we have asked would 
not be good for us to receive : if we had known 
this as well as He, we should not have preferred 
our petition : and He may refuse our request 
of mere goodness. Nor will His truth hereby 
suffer any imputation. For from considerations 
of the relative position of God and man, the 
former infinite, entirely perfect, and a Protector, 
the latter limited, imperfect, and dependent, it 



CONSIDERATIONS OF OBJECTIONS. 81 

must have been implied in the original promise, 
that the things asked should be good for man to 
receive. 

In prayer, then, man fulfils a duty. He ful- 
fils a duty in admitting and obeying the law of 
highly probable evidence. Ordinarily, the results 
consequent upon such actions of devotion or obe- 
dience, present no real difiiculty. If however at 
any time there be some appearance of hardship, 
we may recollect that both cases are susceptible 
of a like explanation, arising from considerations 
of the Divine attributes, and the relation between 
God and man. 



G 



( 82 ) 



CHAPTER V. 



FURTHER ILLUSTRATIONS OF OUR PRINCIPLES. 

Having thus considered a possible objection, 
let us revert to our original principle ; i. e. in cases 
involving conduct obedience to the law of highly 
probable evidence is right, and ordinarily leads 
to truth. 

It may be well to obtain further illustration 
on the subject. 

To this end let us take into consideration the 
question of confidence between man and man. 

I am ill (suppose), and ignorant of the reme- 
dies by which my disorder may be removed. I 
have access to a physician, of whose skill much 
has been told me by persons, on whom reliance 
can be placed as competent and honest judges : 
and I am therefore led to consult this physician. 
Consider now the position. In the first place, 
if what has been said above* be true, my 
judgment is marked with a seal of authority. 

* See p. 73. 



FURTHER ILLUSTRATIONS. 83 

In consequence of my need of a physician, I am 
authorized, nay compelled to judge. When we 
eat and drink to preserve our lives, we fulfil the 
intentions of the Creator, and are so said to act 
to the glory of God,* who is glorified when His 
purposes are carried out : in like manner, do we 
not also honour God, when we take means to 
avail ourselves of medicines, which He has or- 
dained as a remedy for diseases ? But again, 
in regard to the physician, I proceed upon evi- 
dence. His reputation proves his skill : not 
indeed in the manner of mathematical demon- 
stration: still sufficiently. It is my duty therefore 
to confide in him, to take the medicines he pre- 
scribes, to obey the restrictions he imposes. I 
am justified in my belief, that he knows what is 
good, as well as what is bad for my complaint. 
His power over me continues as long as my need 
of a physician and my confidence in him remain. 
It is true that this trust, as indeed all trust in 
man, is of a limited and restricted kind. If he 
is discovered (a supposition however most im- 
probable), nevertheless if he is discovered in 
attempting something monstrous, if he tries un- 
justifiable experiments on my constitution, or ex- 
hibits some extraordinary and manifest incapacity 

* See p. 64. 

g2 



84 FURTHER ILLUSTRATIONS 

in judgment, my confidence is shaken or de- 
stroyed. Say, if you please, generally, that in the 
progress of our intercourse, stronger evidence is 
at any time given for the withdrawal of con- 
fidence, than has originally been afibrded for 
reposing it : why then, no doubt, I must obey 
the more weighty and later evidence, as con- 
taining a new indication of the intentions of the 
Lawgiver to whom T am answerable. Nevertheless 
my former trust has been right, no less than my 
latter withdrawal. In either case I have acted 
agreeably to the law to which I am subject, 
that of receiving highly probable evidence in 
cases where I am authorized to judge. 

In the supposition that has been made above, 
we have taken into account an exception to a 
general rule. It is manifest that the pressure 
of difiiculties is removed, if we reflect that the 
events of things are in the hands of a wise, 
powerful, just, and benevolent God, who over- 
rules all things for the ultimate good of those 
who trust in Him. 

For further illustration of the question of con- 
fidence between man and man, take the case of 
a comparatively ignorant and illiterate person, 
brought up (let us suppose) in the doctrines of 
Christianity. To him probably such a book as 
Paley*s Evidences is wholly unknown ; would, if 



OF OUR PRINCIPLES. 85 

known, be extremely difficult if not utterly unintel- 
ligible. Nevertheless he has been educated in the 
religion which is that of his parents and country, 
and is recognized and approved by all those, for 
whose characters he entertains respect. He at- 
tends probably to the instructions afforded by 
the minister of his parish, and observes that 
the things taught are suitable to his own sense 
of right and wrong, to his natural perceptions of 
truth, justice, benevolence. He has then a body 
of evidence ; of which the reception of a con- 
siderable portion implies his acquiescence in the 
authority of others. Nevertheless in thus de- 
ferring to the conclusions of other men, he in 
no way surrenders or tampers with his duty of 
private judgment. His mind is exercised in 
determining, what sort of confidence (for con- 
fidence in man admits innumerable degrees), 
what amount of respect is due to this authority 
of others. On the whole, he finds that the com- 
bined effect of all his evidence put together^ is 
such as to justify and force a belief that Reve- 
lation is true, and that his conduct must be 
regulated by the precepts therein delivered. Not 
only is the duty of private judgment incumbent 
upon him : but in his own case he is a judge of 
the very highest authority* and responsibility; 

* See above p. 73. 



86 FURTHER ILLUSTRATIONS 

since his conduct as a servant of God must 
depend upon his judgment, and since no less 
a question is at stake than that of his welfare, 
as a being destined for immortality. 

It will be but a sequel to the considerations 
we have been pursuing, if we observe how mon- 
strous is that dogma, by which men have dared 
without proof to require others to esteem them 
as infallible. In many relations and circum- 
stances of life, high respect is of course due to 
the judgments of other men, especially, we may 
remark, of parents, or of those who are in loco 
parentis: if however evidence be that which is 
to guide conduct, and we plead authority as our 
justification in any given case, we are still open 
to the question. Had we evidence sufficient to 
warrant us in receiving the authority'? If we 
had, then of course we are justified : if not, the 
authority is unsatisfactory and valueless. In 
either case the law of evidence is a principle 
anterior to and stronger than the respect due to 
authority; and the duty of private judgment is 
vindicated and established. Accordingly we find 
that our Saviour, who really was infallible, ap- 
peals to the Jews to recognize the proofs of His 
authority : " The works that I do in my Father's 
name, they bear witness of me."* So again, in 

* John X. 25. 



OF OUR PRINCIPLES. 87 

a sentence implying that they might naturally 
require proof: "If I do not the works of my 
Father believe me not."* 

The authority of others is in fact only a portion 
of that body of evidence, the whole of which is 
rightly submitted to the judgment. In any 
case a man, or body of men, of acknowledged 
skill, if you please, and wisdom, deliver their 
decision. If I am to act in the matter, I must 
take their judgment at what it is worth; and 
uniting it with various other evidence, which 
may come before me, must make all proper 
allowances, additions and subtractions. I shall 
thus be able to determine whether there is on 
the whole a preponderance of evidence, on the 
one side or the other, sufficient to constitute an 
indication of the intentions of the Lawgiver, 
according to the common course of human affairs. 
Be the nature of the evidence what it may, 
either implying the authority of wise and skilful 
men, or exhibiting the common sense of all 
men, or at once appealing to my own individual 
powers and perceptions; if the notice be suffi- 
cient, I must admit it, and as a responsible 
agent, act thereupon. 

These principles on the one hand prevent 
authority from being strained beyond its just 

* John X. 37. 



88 FURTHER ILLUSTRATIONS 

bounds : on the other hand, they operate as a 
check to the crude notions of those who clamour 
much about what they scarcely appear to under- 
stand, viz. the rights and privileges and duties 
of private judgment. In their eager assertion 
of what they consider liberty, they proceed in 
fact to licentiousness; and seem to forget that 
he who judges, judges responsibly. " I think 
so and so (is^ the cry), you think differently ; my 
decision may be right no less than yours ; I am 
a man, you are a man ; the judicial faculty within 
me is the voice of God ; what higher pretensions 
can you allege 1" 

To which it may be replied; No doubt the 
judicial faculty which any one possesses is to him 
a more binding authority than that of another 
man. Let this faculty however be rightly directed. 
If the other man has means of knowing superior 
to his own, and if the other man's honesty in the 
development of his knowledge is undoubted, then 
a man's own judgment is properly employed in 
estimating such means of knowledge and honesty: 
being assured on these points it has done its duty. 
Let him now trust to that authority which he 
recognizes. It would be absurd in the extreme 
for me, a private individual (ZSiwri??, as the 
Greeks say), unskilled in law, to say to a lawyer 
on a point of law, " I think so and so; you 



OF OUR PRINCIPLES. 89 

think diiferently. My decision may be right no 
less than yours. I am a man ; you are a man, 
&c. &c." 

A story told by Jeremy Taylor may supply an 
apt illustration of this subject. " Two brethren 
travelling together, whereof one was esteemed 
wise, and the other little better than a fool, 
came to a place where the way parted. The 
foolish brother espying one of them to be fair 
and pleasant, and the other dirty and uneven, 
would needs go that way, though his wiser 
brother told him, that in all reason that must 
needs be the wrong way : but he followed his 
own eyes, not his brother's reason ; and his 
brother being more kind than wise, though 
against his reason, followed his foolish brother: 
they went on till they fell into the hands of 
thieves, who robbed them and imprisoned them, 
till they could redeem themselves with a sum 
of money. These brothers accuse each other 
before the king, as authors of each other's evil. 
The wiser complained that his brother would 
not obey him, though he was known to be wiser, 
and spoke reason. The other complained of him 
for following him that was a fool, affirming that 
he would have returned back, if he had seen his 
wiser brother confident, and to have followed his 
own reason. The king condemned them both : 



90 FURTHER ILLUSTRATIONS 

the fool because he did not follow the direction 
of the wise ; and the wise because he did follow 
the wilfulness of the fooL So will God deal 
with us at the day of judgment in the scrutinies 
of conscience."* 

What has been said may perhaps be strength- 
ened by a quotation from Reid: "In the first 
part of life we have no other guide than au- 
thority; and without a disposition to receive 
implicitly what we are taught, we should be 
incapable of instruction and incapable of im- 
provement. 

"When judgment is ripe, there are many 
things of which we are incompetent judges. In 
such matters it is most reasonable to rely upon 
the judgment of those whom we beheve to be 
competent and disinterested. The highest court 
of judicature in the nation relies upon the au- 
thority of lawyers and physicians in matters 
belonging to their respective professions. 

" Even in matters which we have access to 
know, authority always will have, and ought 
to have more or less weight, in proportion to 
the evidence on which our own judgment rests, 
and the opinion we have of the judgment and 
candour of those who difier from us or agree 
with us. The modest man conscious of his own 

* Jeremy Taylor. Doctor Dub. 



OF OUR PRINCIPLES. 91 

fallibility in judging, is in danger of giving too 
much to authority ; the arrogant of giving too 
little. 

" In all matters belonging to our cognizance, 
every man must be determined by his own final 
judgment, otherwise he does not act the part 
of a rational being. Authority may add weight 
to one scale; but the man holds the balance, 
and judges what weight he ought to allow to 
authority. 

"If a man should even clain infallibility, we 
must judge of his title to that prerogative. If 
a man pretend to be an ambassador from heaven, 
we must judge of his credentials. No claim can 
deprive us of this right, or excuse us for neglect- 
ing to exercise it." 

It is easily seen that when you have once 
determined to place confidence in a man, and 
do so place it, you thereby give him power. 
Now there is a natural law, capable of the 
clearest and most indubitable proof, by which 
man is bound to place confidence in man. The 
business of human life cannot proceed without 
this mutual trust. Since however it was in- 
tended that we should live together in society, 
it must have been designed that those things 
should be established, which are necessary for 
the maintenance of society. The law too is 



92 FUBTHER ILLUSTRATIONS 

imposed by the authority of the designer, that 
of God. If therefore, where circumstances re- 
quire us to repose confidence in our fellow-men, 
we without just cause refuse that confidence 
in its proper measure and degree, we certainly 
transgress the law of the Creator, Moreover 
(as has been remarked by a great moralist) a 
suspicious man becomes himself naturally an 
object of suspicion to others. For they are 
inclined to argue, that his principles of distrust 
are not merely drawn from his experience of the 
conduct of other men, but also from what he 
knows to be his own disposition and character. 
On the whole then, men of liberal and ingenuous 
minds are not only disposed to place confidence 
in others; not only do their own generous and 
benevolent sentiments naturally lead them so to 
do; but they are also sensible that trust in man 
is a duty we owe to God; and they shrink from 
the imputations or suspicions attached to the 
character of the suspicious. These men then do 
sometimes become a mark to the designing. Such 
persons wanting power* cry out for confidence. 

* Sometimes perhaps the motive may be inconsiderate 
vanity, or immodest curiosity. At other times a proper 
motive. That however which we are more especially con- 
sidering is the position of the person subjected to these 
demands. 



OF OUR PRINCIPLES. 93 

For as all men must trust their neighbours, so 
must every one be convinced that his neighbour, 
in some manner or other, in some degree or 
other, has power over him, and he over his 
neighbour. There may be infinite varieties and 
degrees of power, just as of confidence. These 
designing persons then do not perhaps at once 
boldly ask for power; but if they gain higher 
confidence, they virtually and in effect obtain 
greater power. A just estimate however of the 
principles on which, and the limitations with 
which confidence ought to be reposed, may 
enable us to escape from difiiculties wherein 
we may otherwise be entangled from want of due 
discipline, and proper regulation of things in 
themselves estimable and good. 

Now in God (as our religion teaches us) we 
may trust with all our heart and mind and soul 
and strength. Not only are we allowed but 
required so to trust. He demands this con- 
fidence, of which His divine perfections shew 
Him worthy. But man, even if untainted by sin, 
if ever fulfilling the law of his being, would still be 
infinitely inferior to his great Creator. Observe 
especially his inferiority in power, wisdom, know- 
ledge. In man therefore, even if he was in his best 
state, such a limited confidence only could with pro- 
priety be placed, as should be suitable to a being 



94 FURTHER ILLUSTRATIONS 

thus limited in capacities and powers. But 
recollect that man (as Scripture shews) far from 
being in his best state, is in one of degradation. 
Those who are called good, are not so absolutely, 
i.e. do not fulfil God's law; but are only re- 
latively and imperfectly good. As the number 
of men is countless, so the varieties of their cha- 
racter from the highest or best to the lowest 
or worst, are also countless. Again, the powers 
of men are as different as their dispositions. As 
no man therefore is worthy of unlimited con- 
fidence,* yet since it is our duty to trust our 
fellow-creatures, and man's worthiness is of such 
infinite shades and varieties, as too the occasions 
requiring trust are of such endless diversity; it 
follows that the degrees of our confidence, and 
the limitations with which we ought to accord 
it, are also innumerable. A general rule, suffi- 
ciently comprehensive, can scarcely be laid down 
upon the subject. Each particular case, as it 
occurs, may be determined on its own merits. 



* To give this unbounded confidence to man is indeed 
a species of idolatry : for we thus take away from God that 
which belongs to Him, and of which He alon« is worthy, and 
we give it to a creature, to whom it does not belong, and who 
is unworthy of it. Thus we " worship and serve the creature 
more than the Creator," which is evidently the spirit of 
idolatry. 



OF OUR PRINCIPLES, 95 

Be it remembered however, that since our moral 
conduct is herein concerned, we are responsible 
for our judgment, in regard to the degree of 
confidence, and the restrictions or limitations to 
be imposed, to God our judge. In the first place, 
do the circumstances in which we are placed 
require this confidence to be reposed ] Secondly, 
is the man worthy, or at all events not plainly 
unworthy] Thirdly, what surveillance or re- 
strictions is it proper to impose 1 These are 
questions to be determined upon evidence, highly 
probable evidence, such as has been before de- 
scribed : if they are resolved without or in oppo- 
sition to such evidence, they are resolved without 
or in opposition to the customary intimations 
of the Superior to the subject, who is answerable 
accordingly. "Where a man reposes high con- 
fidence in one who afterwards betrays it, while 
the traitor is condemned, he who confided is 
often pitied, not blamed. Here, as in other 
cases, the judgment of the world is sometimes 
given without authority or sufiicient evidence. 
The traitor of course is worthy of condemnation. 
But the questions also arise — Was he who 
trusted justified] Did the circumstances of the 
case require him to repose confidence at all] 
Was there no evidence at the time which might 
have shewn the unworthiness of the person 



96 FURTHER ILLUSTRATIONS 

trusted ? None that might have pointed out the 
propriety of more vigilant and frequent superin- 
tendance ? 

The principle of responsibility in regard to 
the trust which we place in our fellow-creatures 
may be thus briefly asserted. When I give my 
confidence to any one, I thereby invest him with 
power. But since all power carries with it its 
responsibility, and I am answerable for the use 
and application of every faculty I possess, I am 
therefore answerable for the delegation of power : 
for to delegate it is to apply it : accordingly I am 
accountable for the confidence which I place in 
a fellow-creature ; accountable both as regards 
the occasion, and also the degree of the trust, 
as well as the limitations with which it is 
reposed. 

As there are some persons in the world whom 
scarcely any amount of moral proof will con- 
vince; so there seem to be men of a too confiding 
and credulous character, who are ready to believe 
any thing and every thing, without, or even in 
opposition to, evidence. The two dispositions 
appear in fact to coincide with and run into 
each other : for if I will not believe what I 
ought, I am naturally led to believe that which 
I ought not. For instance, the Jews who saw 
our Saviour's miracles, and heard His appeals, 



OF OUR PRINCIPLES. 97 

though they would not believe Him, believed 
that it was possible for a person to exhibit such 
power in attestation of such claims, and yet not 
be from God. At all events an excessive readi- 
ness to believe is a fault, of which the greatness 
is proportionable to such excess. Say that I am 
placed in a position to act, and I assume what 
is not proved by satisfactory evidence, here is 
clearly a violation of our primary notions of pro- 
priety. I practically assert to be true, that which 
may or may not be so. I cannot now, as before, 
plead the intimation conveyed by the Lawgiver 
to the subject : for, by supposition, the evidence 
is not sufficient to constitute such an intimation. 
I have not, it may be, distinguished between 
suspicion and proof. I have therefore virtually 
made myself answerable, as professing to know 
what I do not know. But say that I believe 
and act, not only without but against evidence. 
Here my conduct is still more reprehensible. 
For I in effect make myself responsible as know- 
ing that to be true, which there is evidence to 
teach me is not true. Such considerations bear 
upon what has recently been the subject of our 
thoughts, and tend to shew how reprehensible 
we may sometimes be in placing confidence in 
men altogether unworthy, "We cannot too seri- 

H 



98 FURTHER ILLUSTRATIONS OF OUR PRINCIPLES. 

ously reflect, that because the traitor may deserve 
higher condemnation, that is no reason why a 
high condemnation should not fall upon the 
betrayed. 



( 99 ) 



CHAPTEE VI. 



ADDITIONAL ILLUSTRATIONS. 

In illustrating our notions of the law of highly 
probable evidence, we have taken particular in- 
stances of the confidence which man reposes in 
his fellow-creatures, and have thence ascended 
to the consideration of the general principle of 
trust. But we may proceed still further, and 
assert that there is a multitude of general prin- 
ciples, stored up in men's minds, to be used as 
occasion requires, which exemplify the operation 
of the laws of moral evidence. The necessity of 
men's condition, even their very weakness, forces 
them to adopt general rules, by which to direct 
their conduct.* Accordingly it is assuredly the 
intention of the Creator, who imposed the neces- 

* This wisdom we may learn from the fable : " A fox 
(it is said) in traversing the forest, observed a boar whetting 
his tusks against a tree. ' Why make these martial prepara- 
tions/ cried the fox, ' since there is no enemy near ?' ' That 
may be,* replied the boar, * but you ought to know that we 
should scour up our arms while we have leisure. In time of 
danger we shall have something else to do/ " 

H2 



100 ADDITIONAL ILLUSTRATIONS, 

sity that they should do so. Whatever may he 
the practice of our legislature or courts, observe 
how wise is the theory at all events of our con- 
stitution in this matter. Certain laws are the 
laws of England, according to which the criminal 
justice of the country must be administered. 
Nevertheless it is impossible for those who enact 
statutes, to foresee all the particular cases that 
may occur. Nor could the legislature on these 
occasions interpose its special authority. Such 
is the weakness, the limited nature and faculties 
of man. Accordingly much discretionary power 
is supposed to be entrusted to those who admi- 
nister the law. 

A court of justice has two main duties to 
perform; (1) to determine the question of guilt 
or innocence ; (2) to punish the guilty. Now 
in order to ascertain the truth of facts, certain 
great principles are laid down by the legislature. 
Thus, for instance, though in general testimony 
is not received save on oath, still the declaration 
of a man, who in making it knew that he was 
at the point of death, is admissible : because the 
solemnity of the circumstances is conceived to 
have made as strong an impression upon his 
mind as an oath. Again, the testimony of a con- 
victed felon is of no weight, unless corroborated. 
Nevertheless, though various rules for guidance 



ADDITIONAL ILLUSTRATIONS. 101 

are thus established, the jury must ultimately 
determine the question of guilt according to the 
whole of the evidence adduced in a particular 
case. But again, in regard to the conduct proper 
to be adopted after guilt is proved, certain general 
maxims are established, and the law in some 
measure determines the punishment to be as- 
signed. Still much latitude is left to the judge. 
In cases of manslaughter, which seem to admit 
almost all shades of guilt, from justifiable homi- 
cide up to wilful murder, all sorts of punish- 
ments, short of death, are in the power of the 
judge. Again, it may appear in evidence that one 
man is urged by hunger to commit a theft : an- 
other has no such mitigating plea. The variety of 
palliating or aggravating circumstances may be 
endless. Accordingly it is intended that the gene- 
ral rules should be susceptible of modification, so 
that, if possible, what is perfectly reasonable may 
be done on each special occasion. If this is ac- 
complished, we have a specimen of the just appre- 
ciation of man's position, and indeed, what mainly 
concerns us, an example for the imitation of each 
particular person in training and disciplining his 
own mind. The necessity of general principles 
is admitted: and the duty rests with the legis- 
lature to make such laws as may be consistent 
with perfect reason. On particular occasions care 



102 ADDITIONAL ILLUSTRATIONS. 

must be taken that these laws be duly applied : 
that on the one hand they be not relaxed ; nor 
on the other strained beyond their legitimate 
scope and intention ; but that they may best 
fulfil the purposes for which they were enacted. 
Similarly men may prepare themselves for the 
duties of active life. They may arm themselves 
with abstract principles,* taking heed that these 
principles be consistent with truth, justice, 
benevolence, such in fact as ought to be per- 
manently enthroned in their minds. When 
particular calls for action arise, they may then 
apply what they have obtained, in a fair and 
proper manner, to the circumstances presented 
to them : and thus, their original principles being 
right and duly applied, f they will fulfil the great 

* A mind intent upon self-improvement will continually 
give its attention to the consideration of principles involved 
in matters apparently most trivial. Though such matters do 
not perhaps immediately concern his conduct, the wise man 
turns them to account by making them a vehicle of instruc- 
tion. Here then is no impertinent or flippant judge. (See 
above p. 74.) Much more does he strengthen his principles 
by tracing the results of conduct, especially of his own past 
conduct, in affairs of importance. 

f It will easily appear that the considerations in the text 
may assist us in giving an answer to unjust claims of persons, 
who sometimes endeavour to support such claims by an appeal 
to precedents. The claims perhaps allowed in the precedents 
were just. There right principles were duly apphed. But 



ADDITIONAL ILLUSTRATIONS. 103 

law of moral agents, and act agreeably to the 
intentions of the Lawgiver. 

Accordingly our Saviour tells us, that '' every 
scribe which is instructed unto the kingdom of 
heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, 
which bringeth forth out of his treasure things 
new and old." * Long observation and experience 
have taught the mariner (suppose), that certain 
indications in the sky portend a storm. His rules 
are stored in his mind; and he refuses to sail 
and endanger the lives of the passengers com- 
mitted to his charge; though these passengers 
probably, whose minds are not similarly fur- 
nished, are ignorant of the risk. Again, the 
British minister, imbued with constitutional prin- 
ciples, knows that when parliament is adverse, 
he ought to resign. On such a point the un- 
instructed peasant is wholly incompetent to judge; 
though he admits that it is his duty to work 
for his livelihood, and to maintain his wife and 
children. 

It is worthy of remark however, that not only 
do general rules both admit and require quali- 

though the precedents might have contained circumstances 
similar to those in the cases which are called like ; they also^ 
beyond doubt, shewed marks of distinction. Such distinguish- 
ing features are to be alleged as the answer. Nevertheless in 
such matters the unwary are sometimes entrapped. 
* Matt. xiii. 52. 



104 ADDITIONAL ILLUSTRATIONS. 

fications and restrictions ; but some special cases 
occur which are altogether exceptions to these 
rules. And errors in judgment do at times arise 
in consequence of men's adhering too pertina- 
ciously to what they have treasured up in their 
minds, and not making due allowance for peculiar 
circumstances. It must be allowed that there is 
considerable difficulty in admitting these excep- 
tions. The mind being accustomed to a certain 
regularity in its operations, spontaneously and 
without effort pursues its usual course ; whereas 
it does require an effort to divert its attention to 
a due appreciation of those things which set 
aside the general rule and mark the exception. 
God indeed, agreeably to His high attributes 
under all circumstances, acts with perfect reason, 
perfect propriety. But a variety of cases, like in 
some respects, yet unlike in others, being pre- 
sented to man ; he is in danger, by his too close 
observance of general rules, of violating, on some 
particular occasion, those eternal principles of 
truth, justice, and benevolence on which the rules 
are founded, and in subordination to which they 
can alone be tolerated. This too is a danger of 
that which is not only bad in itself, but of which 
the example is likewise very pernicious. For the 
error is naturally that of men of a high stamp of 
mind; who admit, as they ought, the obligation 



ADDITIONAL ILLUSTRATIONS. 105 

of acting upon general principles ; men therefore 
of character and influence, whose authority is 
marked and quoted. 

In discussing this subject of general principles, 
it may not be superfluous strongly to insist upon 
the immense importance of the great principles 
with which you are imbued and armed, being 
essentially true and right, as well as admitted 
with their proper limitations and restrictions. If 
this be not so, when a case is presented, you ap- 
proach it in an unhealthy state of mind. You have 
a preliminary tendency to error. You are in fact a 
partial and prejudiced judge. You refer the cir- 
cumstances in which you are interested to discover 
truth, to some maxim false in itself, or in that 
undue extension and application which you are 
now disposed to give to it, and which therefore, as 
far as your present purpose is concerned, vitiates 
it, and for that purpose renders it such as if it was 
universally false. Your fundamental principle 
therefore being wrong, your judgment based upon 
it is erroneous. To illustrate this matter, take 
the case of the Jews, who expected that their 
Messiah would appear as a mighty temporal 
prince; and therefore approached the consider- 
ation of his claims with unfair minds. They 
were prejudiced, Le. had judged before, and 
assumed as a fundamental truth, and stored up 



106 ADDITIONAL ILLUSTRATIONS. 

in their minds, what was not built upon evidence, 
viz. that Christ must thus of necessity appear as 
a temporal deliverer ; and therefore there was an 
obstacle in limine to the reception of what was 
offered them. They referred His claims to a 
notion essentially false, and accordingly their 
judgment was naturally wrong. Here was a case 
too of paramount importance. But, in general, 
the importance of being forearmed vrith right 
and free from erroneous maxims, will appear from 
the consideration, that in the continual bustle and 
turmoil of life men have not time in each parti- 
cular case to weigh separately every thing which 
is implied in that case. They are required to 
act energetically and as it were instinctively ; and 
such energy and as it were instinct are in reality 
but the development of principles previously 
nourished and cherished. 

We hear much of men's prejudices preventing 
them from appreciating truth. Some persons, 
according to the example of the Jews just men- 
tioned, appear to have harboured in their minds 
maxims essentially false. Hence wherever these 
maxims are involved, their judgment is necessarily 
erroneous. Others of a better stamp cherish, and 
even vehemently assert principles of very ques- 
tionable truth and small importance ; thus their 
minds being occupied with what is altogether 



ADDITIONAL ILLUSTRATIONS. 107 

unworthy of holding a fixed habitation therein, 
they are fettered and embarrassed in some given 
case by considerations which deserve not a mo- 
ment's entertainment: accordingly they miss, or 
only with difficulty attain their object, viz. truth. 
In either of these cases is exempUfied the usual 
meaning of the word prejudice^ which is generally 
taken in an evil signification. 

But, if we consider the derivation of the word, 
to have judged beforehand^ and to have admitted 
into the mind certain great principles of action, 
which are true and right and worthy to be 
entertained, is altogether the duty of intellectual 
and responsible man. 

It is a common allegation of some men when 
they have acted wrongly, that they have acted 
according to their conscience. They forget the 
previous obligation by which they were bound, 
of purifying and enlightening their consciences, 
of eradicating erroneous principles and implanting 
right. In regard to this temper and disposition 
of mind, in which the conscience is inefficient 
and self-deceit is admitted. Bishop Butler has 
the following passage : " The temper (he writes) 
is essentially in its own nature vicious and im- 
moral. It is unfairness. It is dishonesty. It 
is falseness of heart : and is therefore so far from 
extenuating guilt, that it is itself the greatest of 



108 ADDITIONAL ILLUSTRATIONS. 

all guilt, in proportion to the degree it prevails ; 
for it is a corruption of the whole moral cha- 
racter in its principle. Our understanding and 
sense of good and evil is the light and guide of 
life. ' If therefore this light that is in thee be 
darkness, how great is that darkness.'"* 

Other men again appear to be the blind slaves 
of their passions : acting as " the beasts that 
perish, "j' they seem to forget that though thus 
degraded, still they cannot divest themselves of 
the responsibility attached to the possession of 
the higher faculties with which they have been 
endowed. For all these things God will bring 
them to judgment. 

* Butler's Sermons. f Ps. xlix. 12. 



( 109 ) 



CHAPTER VII. 



OBEDIENCE TO GOD, THE PRINCIPLE OF THE IN- 
QUIHER. FOUNDATIONS OF THAT PRINCIPLE. 

Up to this point our attention has been prin- 
cipally directed to the consideration of probable 
evidence. This however is but a part of the 
moral evidence subjected to our examination, 
and serves merely as a mean to an end. Our 
business is to inquire into the w^hole of that, 
which manifests the conduct that ought to be 
adopted by intellectual and immortal man. 

Nevertheless the subject of probable evidence 
presenting many difficulties, it has appeared ne- 
cessary to dwell thereupon at some length : and 
it so happens, that, while it was our main design 
to illustrate and to confirm evidence, shewing 
that things have been, are, will be, and thus 
clearly to ascertain and establish preliminary 
principles, we have yet obtained much which at 
once teaches propriety of conduct. 

In the last chapter, indeed, it was our en- 
deavour to shew, that men must adopt great 



110 OBEDIENCE TO GOD. 

principles of judging to be treasured up in their 
minds, and applied as occasion requires, in order 
that with reference to particular cases they may 
be able to discover the past, present, or future 
existence of things. But additional considera- 
tions were introduced. It appeared that the 
same course must be pursued in regard to prin- 
ciples, shewing what ought to be. As on the 
one hand men's maxims are to be founded upon 
truth, and duly applied, so on the other they are 
to be consistent with justice and benevolence, 
as well as carried out in the spirit in which they 
are adopted. Here then is an account of what 
ought to be done beyond the discovery of the 
past, present, and future existence of things ; 
even though such discovery be accompanied by 
the ulterior but insufficiently defined view of 
founding measures thereupon. 

But more than this : In the earlier part of his 
investigation, the inquirer seeking extrication 
from his difficulties, and confirmation of an em- 
bryo principle, was led to consider the law of 
nature written in man's heart. Though his 
notions of this law were formerly but indistinct 
and imperfect, still, after much painful discipline 
and laborious study, he heartily recognized its 
authority and power. 

Again, desiring further illustration of his views, 



FOUNDATIONS OF THAT PRINCIPLE. Ill 

impressed with a deep conviction of the import- 
ance of a future state, influenced too by a sense 
of duty, he scrupulously examined the evidences 
of Christianity. Scripture being admitted, among 
other things taught him, that men are bound to 
obey the law of nature; and thus the obliga- 
tion, which he had already acknowledged, was 
strengthened. 

This law was in fact God's law, and shewed 
the inquirer what he ought to do. 

The light which incidentally burst upon him 
was powerful, and his disposition was zealous. 
Accordingly he determined with strong resolution 
to devote himself to the service of God, doing his 
Master's will, in what way soever that will might 
be discoverable. (See p. 66,) 

Obedience then was his principle. 

But it is evidently of immense advantage, 
that great principles of human conduct should 
in every possible manner be illustrated and 
strengthened : thus the mind, whichsoever way 
it turns itself, wiU perceive and appreciate the 
solidity of the foundations on which it builds its 
superstructure, and trains itself for defence or for 
action. 

Though then the principle of obedience has 
already been recognized by our inquirer, stiU, if 
we can offer any additional reflections bearing 



112 OBEDIENCE TO GOD. 

upon that principle, our purpose will be better 
answered. Scripture indeed not only inculcates 
and enjoins certain important rules of human 
conduct, agreeable to the law of nature, but 
shews cause why maxims should be modified or 
extended, and in truth commands us so to modify 
or extend them. Scripture then contains what 
may be considered supplemental to the law of 
nature. The inquirer therefore will be duly 
prepared and schooled to admit, and indeed may 
gladly admit, whatever explanation or confirma- 
tion of his great principle of obedience he may 
derive from Scripture, or from any other source. 

Much more will he rejoice, if he can ascend 
to something high and holy, by which his re- 
lation to the Deity may appear elevated in its 
character as well as strengthened in its ties. 

It may have been observed, that the mental 
discipline to which he has been subjected, has 
been something of the discipline of a schoolmaster ; 
bringing him in truth to Christ, still in a severe 
and stern fashion. We have witnessed the dif- 
ficulties of his inquiries, and have heard much of 
his notions of responsibility. He has professed 
himself indeed a sincere and zealous servant of 
God, and has altogether recognized his obligation 
to obey. But Scripture teaches us to aspire to 
a nobler obedience, that of sons. " Now I say 



FOUNDATIONS OF THAT PRINCIPLE. 113 

(writes St. Paul) that the heir, as long as he is 
a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though 
he be lord of all; but is under tutors and go- 
vernors, until the time appointed of the father. 
Even so we, when we were children, were in 
bondage under the elements of the world. But 
when the fulness of time was come, God sent 
forth His Son, made of a woman, made under 
the law, to redeem them that were under the 
law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. 
And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth 
the spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying 
Abba, Father. Wherefore thou art no more 
a servant, but a son : and if a son, then an heir 
of God through Christ."* 

We must look then to a principle suitable to 
sons, rather than to servants, which indeed is 
the "love that casteth out fear."-j- 

Accordingly in Scripture we perceive this con- 
spicuous principle, asserted in the Old Testament, 
and emphatically repeated in the New, as the 
first and great commandment : " Thou shalt love 
the Lord thy God, with all thy heart, and with 
all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the 
first and great commandment. "J Scripture then 
being what it is proved to be, this principle 

* Gal. iv. 1, &c. t 1 John iv. 18. J Matt. xxii. 37, 38. 

I 



114 OBEDIENCE TO GOD. 

claims our recognition, as a command therein 
delivered. 

But further, I will in the first place take leave 
to quote a passage of Bishop Jeremy Taylor, in 
regard to the cogency of the obligation. " We 
need no incentives (he says) by way of special 
enumeration, to move us to the love of God ; for 
we cannot love anything, for any reason real or 
imaginary, but that excellence is infinitely more 
eminent in God. There can but two things 
create love, perfection and usefulness: to which 
answer on our part, 1. Admiration; 2. Desire: 
and both these are centred in love. For the 
entertainment of the first, there is in God an 
infinite nature, immensity or vastness without 
extension or limit, immutability, eternity, omni- 
potence, omniscience, holiness, dominion, provi- 
dence, bounty, mercy, justice, perfection in Him- 
self, and the end to which all things and all 
actions must be directed, and will at last arrive. 
The consideration of which may be heightened, 
if we consider our distance from all these glories; 
our smallness and limited nature, our nothing, our 
inconstancy, our age like a span, our weakness 
and ignorance, our poverty, our inadvertency and 
inconsideration, our disabilities and disaffections 
to do good, our harsh natures and unmerciful 
inclinations, our universal iniquity, and our ne- 



FOUNDATIONS OF THAT PRINCIPLE. 115 

cessities and dependencies, not only on God 
originally and essentially, but even our need of 
the meanest of God's creatures, and our being 
obnoxious to the weakest and most contemptible. 
But for the entertainment of the second we may 
consider, that in Him is a torrent of pleasure for 
the voluptuous ; He is the fountain of honour 
for the ambitious ; an inexhaustible treasure for 
the covetous. Our vices are in love with fan- 
tastic pleasures and images of perfection ; which 
are truly and really to be found nowhere but in 
God. And therefore our virtues have such pro- 
per objects, that it is but reasonable they should 
all turn into love : for certain it is, that this love 
will turn all into virtue." 

But beyond this, we may consider how God 
has, on the score of gratitude, bound .us to 
Himself. "We love Him because He first loved 
us."* Consider the benefits of creation, preser- 
vation, redemption: the proffer of means of grace, 
and the hope of glory. These good things might 
partly indeed have been perceived by the light 
of nature : for " God left not Himself without 
witness, in that He did good, and gave us rain 
from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our 
hearts with joy and gladness."'|' But revelation, 

* 1 John iv. 19. f Acts xiv. 17. 

I 2 



116 OBEDIENCE TO GOD. 

while it has authoritatively confirmed the evi- 
dence afforded hy the light of nature, giving 
thereto the assurance derived from miracles, has 
likewise exhibited what our natural powers could 
never have discovered. Be the manner of our 
conviction however what it may, we at once 
acknowledge that benefits conferred claim a re- 
turn of gratitude and love. Here again is an 
appeal to a primary principle implanted in 
man. He recognizes justice : he must also re- 
cognize gratitude. It is altogether fit and right 
that we should cherish a grateful sense of bene- 
fits received. The consideration however of 
what Scripture reveals to have been done by 
God for man, increases the debt of love that is 
owed. Scripture too, in asserting the obligation, 
strengthens by its coincidence and harmony the 
inference which might be drawn from a mere 
consideration of the law of nature written upon 
our hearts. 

So that, on the whole, man ought to love God, 
in consideration of facts and relations, which may 
be known independently of revelation. Scripture 
reasserts these facts and relations, and also ex- 
hibits new ones, thus rendering more clear, and 
increasing the obligation. The sense of the debt 
is a part of the natural law, and this sense is 
impressed more deeply by a command delivered 
in Scripture. 



FOUNDATIONS OF THAT PRINCIPLE. 117 

Also it is right that man should love God 
with all his heart, soul, and mind, i.e. with his 
greatest energy and intensity : for God is worthy 
of highest admiration, and is his greatest bene- 
factor. Accordingly this intensity of love is a 
portion of the command given. 

Our inquirer having weighed the foregoing 
considerations, may find that they are strength- 
ened by all the natural associations, of which 
he has experience in the ordinary afiairs of 
life : his mind has been trained by examples of 
gratitude between man and man, by admiration 
of high qualities and endowments, by intercourse 
of relationship and friendship, and by benevolent 
feelings entertained generally to his fellow-crea- 
tures. We will therefore suppose him freely to 
acknowledge and cherish the principle of loving 
God with all his heart and all his soul and all 
his mind. 

Now, according to Scripture, love is shewn by 
obedience. " This is the love of God, that we 
keep His commandments."* Again, "faith work- 
ing by love"f is delivered as a great principle of 
human action. " He that cometh to God must 
(of course) believe that He is : "J else how can 
he come unto Him] We believe however, not 

* 1 John V. 3. t G^al. v. 6. % Heb. xi. 6. 



118 OBEDIENCE TO GOD. 

only that God is, but also that He hath done for 
us those things which He is said to have 
done, and that He is willing to do " more than 
eye hath seen, or ear heard, or than it hath 
entered into the heart of man to conceive."* 
Accordingly, being disposed in return to render 
the love which is due to our great Benefactor, 
we shall exhibit our feeling by obedience, by 
a hearty and persevering endeavour to do the 
will of Him to whom so much is owed. This is 
a natural vent and ebullition of love, felt by the 
inferior and dependent to the superior and pro- 
tecting Being. We see it continually exem- 
plified in various relations of human life. A 
loving child does the will of its parent, is obe- 
dient. A loving wife does those things which 
she knows will be approved by her husband. To 
obey is part of her marriage- vow. 

Love to God then being admitted, we perceive 
that, both according to the law of nature and to 
Scripture, and agreeably to our own observation 
and experience, obedience does thence flow. 

Thus then we understand the strength of 
those foundations on which rests our principle 
of obedience. 

* 1 Cor. ii. 9. 



( 119 ) 



CHAPTER VIII. 



THREEFOLD DUTY OF MAN. 

Moralists are accustomed to divide the duty 
of man into three parts: (1) his duty to God; 
(2) his duty to his neighbour ; (3) his duty to 
himself. This is agreeable to what St. Paul 
writes to Titus : " For the grace of God, that 
bringeth salvation, hath appeared to all men ; 
teaching us, that denying ungodliness and worldly 
lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and 
godly in this present world."* 

But if we take obedience to God as a primary 
principle of human conduct, we shall see that 
man's duties to his neighbour and to himself will 
in reality be only parts of the duty to God, being 
discharged with reference to the Deity, and in 
obedience to His commands. 

Only in what is called the duty to God, an 
exclusive reference to Him seems contemplated, 
and He is the immediate object to whom the 
duty is applicable. 



* Tit. ii. 11, 12. 



120 THREEFOLD DUTY OF MAN. 

The first four commandments in the decalogue 
are particularly connected with our duty to God. 

Also Scripture teaches us that our devotions 
and services, as religious beings, are to be paid 
to God in the name of Jesus Christ. 

With respect to our duty to our neighbour, 
we find that after Christ had delivered what He 
termed the first and great commandment, i.e. 
love to God, He added, "The second is like unto 
it ; thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself"* It 
is also elsewhere said, " Owe no man anything 
but to love one another." f " All things, what- 
soever ye would that men should do unto you, 
do ye even so to them." J Which is explained to 
mean, that we should do to others whatsoever 
we could reasonably expect them to do to us, if, 
circumstances being reversed, they were in our 
position and we in their position. 

Again, particular injunctions, founded upon 
and carrying out this idea of love to our neigh- 
bour, abound in Scripture. 

The love of our neighbour, like that of God, 
will of course shew itself by action. 

For further confirmation of the principle of 
love to our neighbour, evincing itself in our 
conduct, we may observe how much God has 

* Matt. xxii. 39. t l^om. xiii. 8. J Matt. vii. 12. 



THREEFOLD DUTY OF MAN. 121 

done for all men, even for the unthankful and 
the evil. To act kindly therefore to our neigh- 
bour, would be exactly in accordance with what 
we perceive Him to have done, a carrying out 
of His evident purposes and intentions. 

The idea that the Creator should thus benefit 
His creatures, and expect them to interchange 
mutual good ofB.ces, is illustrated and typified 
by the consideration of a father, both himself 
benefiting his children, and rejoicing when they 
behave kindly to each other. 

Again, let us consider that man is placed 
in such circumstances as naturally to require 
this exchange of kindnesses : and God having 
so placed him must have foreseen the effect and 
the necessity which would follow ; and therefore 
virtually imposed such necessity. Hence we 
shall be obliged to allow that God designed 
the principle to be carried out, i.e. He gave 
a law to men, that they should benefit each 
other. 

Agreeably to these maxims, or rather in proof 
of them, we find that men naturally admit and 
cherish sentiments of benevolence and love to 
their fellow-creatures.* Especially we remark 

* " Should any one mar, tear, or deface our picture, 
or shew any kind of disrespect thereto, we should be 



122 THREEFOLD DUTY OF MAN. 

feelings of pity to distress, of parental, filial, 
fraternal affection. The sincerity too of such 
sentiments is exhibited by actions flowing from 
them. 

Moreover these feelings, being that natural 
affection which is mentioned in Scripture,* are 
recognized as right (which is an important point) 
by the common sense of mankind. No one feels 
ashamed of them. In fact a man, on the contrary, 
rather feels shame if he is not thus influenced. 
If, being carried beyond due bounds, they lead 
to what is wrong, they are still considered a 
palliation and mitigation of error. What bonds 
of union are exhibited in the touching story of 
Joseph and his brethren. What varied senti- 
ments we experience in the perusal. Our in- 
dignation is roused by the cruel conduct of 
his brothers. In their distress they exclaim, 
" We are verily guilty concerning our brother, 
in that we saw the anguish of his soul, when 
he besought us, and we would not hear ; there- 
fore is this distress come upon us." But both 



offended, taking it for an indignity put on ourselves: and 
as for ourselves we should never in such a manner affront 
or despite ourselves: every man is such, our most lively 
image, representing us most exactly in all the main figures 
and features of body, of soul, of state." — Barrow's Sermons, 
* Rom. i. 31. 



THREEFOLD DUTY OF MAN. 123 

our indignation and their remorse prove the 
same thing, \iz. the strength of the tie they 
despised. Again, we are moved by the struggles 
of Jacob's mind : in spite of the famine, " My 
son," he cries out, " shall not go down with you; 
for his brother is dead, and he is left alone: 
if mischief befal him by the way in which ye 
go, then shall ye bring down my grey hairs 
with sorrow to the grave." What can be more 
pathetic than the following : " Joseph asked his 
brethren of their welfare, and said, Is your father 
well, the old man of whom ye spake ; is he 
yet alive ? And they answered. Thy servant our 
father is in good health, he is yet alive. And 
they bowed down their heads, and made obeisance. 
And he lift up his eyes and saw his brother 
Benjamin, his mother's son, and said. Is this 
your younger brother of whom ye spake unto 
me] And he said, God be gracious unto thee, 
my son. And Joseph made haste, for his bowels 
did yearn upon his brothers : and he sought 
where to weep, and he entered into his chamber 
and wept there." At last however "Joseph 
could not refrain himself before all them that 
stood by him : and he cried. Cause every man 
to go out from me; and there stood no man 
with him while Joseph made himself known 
unto his brethren. And he wept aloud." "Doth 



124 THREEFOLD DUTY OF MAN. 

my father yet live'?" was his inquiry. But his 
brethren could not answer him; for they were 
troubled at his presence." Naturally enough. 
All this is indeed faithful painting: and the 
common notions of mankind, favourable to these 
feelings of paternal, filial, and brotherly love, 
are at all events evidence (give to it such respect 
as it may deserve) of their propriety, that is, of 
their being a portion of the law of the Creator. 

In regard to what is called "a man's duty 
to himself," the expression seems particularly 
to refer to his cherishing and cultivating (in 
obedience to the law of God) such principles 
as more especially concern the regulation of his 
own mind and body ; with respect to which his 
neighbour, though remotely, is not so directly 
interested. The propriety of the term may be 
defended on the ground, that the duty has im- 
mediate reference to a man's own self. To 
discharge it will of course be for his good, but 
so also will it be for his good to fulfil the duty 
which he owes to his neighbour. (See below, 
Ch. IX.) 

The laws of self-preservation, and of acquisi- 
tion of what is good for himself, are, we cannot 
doubt, laws given by God to man. Choice of 
the good and rejection of the evil were recog- 
nized by our inquirer at the commencement 



THREEFOLD DUTY OF MAN. 125 

of his investigation. And by whom was the 
desire of good and the abhorrence of evil im- 
planted but by the great Creator] Can any 
one suppose that if God, with paternal love, 
pours forth His benefits upon us, and protects 
us from dangers. He does not also design that 
we should, according to our ability, benefit and 
guard ourselves ] To preserve our own life then, 
our health, and property; to receive and enjoy 
with innocency and moderation the good that 
God gives, are evidently portions of our duty to 
ourselves. To curb and discipline our passions, 
(see below Book HI.) to be temperate, free from 
pride, modest, chaste, contented, resigned, are 
also portions. 

The duty is proved, because there are many 
passages of Scripture by which it is supported: 
it is moreover entirely Citable to the circum- 
stances in which man is placed by his Creator : 
its tendency too may be shewn to be good. Our 
discharge of this duty therefore may be received 
as originating in the great principle already 
recognized, that is to say, obedience to God. 



( 126 ) 



CHAPTER IX. 

ADDITIONAL SUPPORT OF THE PRINCIPLE OF 
OBEDIENCE. 

It has now, I trust, been made sufficiently 
to appear, that an immense debt of love and 
obedience is due from man to God. That the 
creature should carry out the designs, and fulfil 
the will of the Creator, would at once be con- 
sidered essentially right and proper : and rela- 
tions subsequent to that established by mere 
creation, strengthen and enlarge the obligation. 
But it is also plain that it will be good for us 
thus to feel and act ; to adopt such a training 
of our hearts and minds, that it may be our 
perpetual endeavour either to execute what God 
expressly enjoins, or to carry out such purposes 
as we know by clear inference will be acceptable 
in His sight. 

An omniscient Creator must know much better 
than beings of finite intelligence, what is suitable 
to the capacities of His creatures, what within 
their power of attainment, and really good for 



THE PRINCIPLE OF OBEDIENCE. 127 

them to enjoy. Again, creation and preservation 
are evidences of the Divine benevolence. Paley 
argues thus : " Contrivance proves design ; and 
the predominant tendency of the contrivance 
indicates the disposition of the designer. The 
world abounds with contrivances ; and all the 
contrivances which we are acquainted T\ith are 
du'ected to beneficial purposes. Evil, no doubt, 
exists ; but is never, that we can perceive, the 

object of contrivance This is a distinction 

which w^ell deserves to be attended to. In de- 
scribing the implements of husbandry, you would 
hardly say of the sickle that it is made to 
cut the reaper's fingers, though, from the con- 
struction of the instrument and the manner of 
using it, this mischief often follows. But if you 
had occasion to describe instruments of torture 
and execution, this engine, you would say, is to 
extend the sinews ; this to dislocate the joints ; 
this to break the bones ; this to scorch the soles 
of the feet. Here pain and misery are the very 
objects of the contrivance. Xow nothing of this 
sort is to be found in the works of nature ...... 

Since then God hath called forth His wisdom to 
contrive and provide for our happiness, and the 
world appears to have been constituted with this 
design at first, so long as this constitution is 
upholden by Him, we must in reason suppose 



128 ADDITIONAL SUPPORT OF 

the same design to continue/'* Moreover, "God 
so loved the world, that He gave His only-be- 
gotten Son, to the end that all that believe in 
Him should not perish, but have everlasting 
life :"•]■ how then is it conceivable, that since the 
Almighty has undertaken to direct our path. He 
should not direct us to good ] Suppose that in 
the course of human affairs, we were engaged in 
some business, where it was necessary to take 
a decided line of action ; and that we had a 
powerful friend, whose wisdom with respect to 
the matter in hand we knew to be greatly 
superior to our own, and of whose kindness we 
had already experienced numberless proofs : 
should we not at once be ready to place con- 
fidence in him, and to take his guidance, espe- 
cially if it was proffered, as more likely to lead 
to good, th^ our own '? Do not men thus con- 
tinually follow the directions of men ; obey their 
physicians, lawyers, spiritual guides, teachers 
of any kind] Does not a soldier thus trust a 
popular and experienced general ] a child a 
parent '? Yet how infinitely short do these re- 
presentations fall of the thing intended to be 



* Paley's Moral Philosophy. See the whole chapter on 
the Divine Benevolence, 
f John iii. 16. 



THE PRINCIPLE OF OBEDIENCE. 129 

exhibited ; since God is immeasurably the great- 
est of benefactors, and His wisdom is unerring. 

Again, experience shews what great temporal 
advantages would arise to society in general, and 
to individuals in particular, if men constantly 
obeyed the Divine law. Butler imagines a king- 
dom or society of men altogether virtuous, and 
shews the tendency of this virtue to procure supe- 
riority and additional power: the head of such 
a kingdom (he says) would be a universal mo- 
narch. Whatever would be advantageous for the 
whole society, would of course be advantageous 
for the individuals of whom that society was 
composed. Even as matters now stand, health, 
long life, and a certain cheerful elasticity of spirit 
are usually the fruits of Christian sobriety : cha- 
racter and influence among men follow the dis- 
charge of our duty to our neighbour ; benevolence 
itself causes pleasure to the benevolent: a man 
who faithfully devotes himself to the service of 
God, feels confidence in the Divine protection : 

Si fractus illabatur orbis, 
Impavidum ferient ruinse. 

HoR. 

He experiences what has been called the joy of 
a good conscience, the peace of God which passeth 
all understanding. All these things are main 
elements of temporal happiness. The considera- 



130 ADDITIONAL SUPPORT OF 

tions, moreover, of a future judgment are alone 
amply sufficient to assure men that the greatest 
good at which they can aim is to obtain the favour 
of God, the greatest evil into which they can fall 
is to incur His displeasure. For, on the one 
hand. Scripture does hold out to those " who, by 
patient continuance in well-doing, seek for glory 
and honour and immortality," " eternal life :" on 
the other hand, it denounces against " them that 
are contentious and do not obey the truth, but 
obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, 
tribulation and anguish upon every soul of man 
that doeth evil."* On the whole, then, " godli- 
ness is profitable unto all things, having promise 
of the life that now is, and of that which is to 
come."f 

We thus perceive a source of consolation in all 
dangers and difficulties, and we cherish a hope 
of benefits both temporal and eternal, in the re- 
flection that we may, if we will, obtain the pro- 
tection and favour of an Almighty defender and 
benefactor. Accordingly, from a consideration of 
the results that will follow, we gain auxiliary 
support of our principle of obedience. J 



* Rom. ii. 7—9. f 1 Tim. iv. 8. 

t Speaking of a regard to what is right, and of a regard 
to our happiness on the whole, " both principles," says Reid, 



THE PRINCIPLE OF OBEDIENCE. 131 

We have now, then, a compass and rudder to 
direct us in a difficult and perilous navigation : 

'H ^' dpen] aradepov tl koi ciTpoiroV -qQ ettI fxovvriQ 
Kv'/zara dapaaXewQ irovroTropu (Storov** 

" are leading principles, both suppose the use of reason, and 
when rightly understood both lead to the same course of life. 
They are like two fountains, whose streams unit^ and run in 
the same channel." 

" In English," remarks Stewart, ^^ we use the word reason- 
ahle with the same latitude, and indeed almost exactly in the 
same sense, in whioh Cicero defines officium, ' id quod cur fac- 
tum sit, ratio probabilis reddi potest.'" This may refer 
either to the Iwnestmn, which implies a sense of duty, or to 
the sense of expediency, utile. 

A main objection to Paley's system of morals seems to be, 
that he has neither taken the high ground, nor all the ground 
which he might have taken. By every method short of actu- 
ally compelling us to obey, God impresses His laws upon our 
hearts. First, the principle of obedience is recognized by the 
conscience of mankind. It is morally right that the created, 
preserved, redeemed, fallible, ignorant, weak being should 
obey and depend upon its infallible, omniscient, almighty 
Creator, Preserver, Redeemer. Disobedience is something 
monstrous. There is a plain beauty in virtue, deformity in 
vice. Again, there are future punishments of the most dread- 
ful kind denounced against transgressors : they suffer the 
pains too of tormenting passions ; ultimately broken health, 
disgrace, remorse, even in this world. The good, on the con- 
trary, find that pious and kind feelings, and the mere exercise 
of goodness, are a source of pure delight : that the ulterior 
results are main elements of temporal happiness: and they 
see before them the prospect of everlasting glory. Here are 
appeals to our hopes, our fears, our love. All these are urged 
in Scripture. * Anthol. Graec. 

K 



132 THE PRINCIPLE OF OBEDIENCE. 

And we find an answer to our anxious inquiry, 
What are we to do as men placed in the world 1 
*' Fear God and keep His commandments : for 
this is the whole duty of man."* 

* Eccles. xii. 13. 



( 133 ) 



CHAPTER X. 

GOOD AND EVIL ESTIMATED, AS BEING IN ACCORD- 
ANCE WITH, OR IN OPPOSITION TO, THE WILL OF 
GOD. NEVERTHELESS (ORDINARILY SPEAKING) 
WHAT APPEARS GOOD IS GOOD, AND WORTHY 
OF PURSUIT UNDER CERTAIN CONDITIONS. 

It may be recollected that the inquirer was 
first moved to the investigation which he has 
pursued, by considerations of good and evil. He 
had found out that to give full license to passion 
was not good, and had then hoped that mere 
human sagacity would shew him what he wished : 
but in the progress of his inquiry he has been led 
on in a manner somewhat different from what he 
expected, and has been enabled to lay strong 
foundations of moral and religious truth. His 
investigation was no improper one: and what- 
ever ideas he might have entertained of its 
nature, and of the answers likely to be obtained, 
still his questions have been answered. It is 
good to obey God, evil to offend Him. Here is 
a high principle to adduce against antagonist 
principles, and by which to be governed. 



134 GOOD AND EVIL. 

Indeed, beyond this we cannot absolutely de- 
sire one event rather than another, without pre- 
sumption, and without making ourselves the 
judges of all that train of future things which 
God has concealed from our view : 

Prudens futuri temporis exitum 
Caliginos^ noete premit Deus.* 

We know not what is most profitable for us, 
power or weakness, riches or poverty, honour or 
dishonour, health or sickness, life or death ."f 

Permittas ipsis expendere numinibus quid 
Conveniat nobis, rebusque sit utile nostris : 
Carior est illis homo quam sibi.l 

* Hor. Od. Ill 29. f ^^w Manual of Devotions. 

J Juv. X. Even the Fabulist illustrates this matter by his 
tale of the herdsman, who, missing a heifer, vowed to Jupiter 
that he would sacrifice a kid if the god would discover to 
him the thief. By and by, searching everywhere, " he espied 
the carcase of his heifer, and a Hon growling over it and feed- 
ing upon it. This sight almost frightened him out of his 
senses, and falling down upon his knees, * O Jupiter,' he ex- 
claimed, ' I promised thee a kid to shew me the thief, but now 
I promise thee a bull if thou wilt deliver me from his claws.' " 

Jeremy Taylor gives us a story of an Egyptian robber, who, 
" sleeping under a rotten wall, was awakened by Serapis, and 
sent away from the ruin: but being quit from the danger, 
and seeing the wall to slide, he thought that the demon loved 
his crime because he had so strangely preserved him from a 
sudden and violent death. But Serapis told him, *I saved 
you from the wall to reserve you for the wheel,' from a short 
and private death to a painful and disgraceful.'' 



GOOD AND EVIL. 135 

It may be observed, that we have a difficulty 
in absolutely judging what is good or evil, be- 
yond that which we experienced in determining 
what was true or false : for events do certainly 
happen or do not happen, irrespectively of per- 
sons ; whereas they may be good or evil for one 
person, and not for another. Thus, for instance, 
before the battle of Cannse, Hannibal, in looking 
to the future, might not only have considered 
whether it was likely that he should be victori- 
ous ; but the question might also have occurred, 
how far even victory would be good. Livy how- 
ever tells us, " Hannibali nimis leeta res est visa, 
majorque quam ut eam statim capere animo pos- 
set." So he delays to march to Eome. Accord- 
ingly, " Vincere scis Hannibal ; victoria uti nes- 
cis " is the reproof of the eager Maharbal. Even 
if we regard more remote events : 

Exitus ergo quis est ? O gloria ! Vincitur idem 
Nempe, et in exilium prseceps fugit, atque ibi magnus 
Mirandusque cliens, sedet ad prsetoria regis, 
Donee Bithyno libeat vigilare tyranno. 
Finem animse, quae res humanas miscuit olim 
Non gladii, non saxa dabunt, non tela ; sed ille 
Cannarum vindex, et tanti sanguinis ultor 
Annulus. Juv. x. 

Contrast with this the conduct and the fortunes of 

our own great leader after the battle of Waterloo. 

On the whole, then, we may be warned, that 

in choosing what appears good, and rejecting 



136 GOOD AND EVIL. 

what to our limited faculties seems evil, we be not 
too ardently desirous in our pursuit of the former, 
nor too anxiously energetic in avoiding the latter. 
One who knew not Christ prayed thus : 

2ii.v (3a(nXev, rd fj.ev eadXa Koi Evyo}xevoLQ koX dvevKTOiQ 
' AfjifiL ^idoV TO. de Xvypd koi Ev-ypixivwv dTrepvKoig. 

Where we are but passive, let us take heed that 
we rejoice not overmuch in what is called pros- 
perity, nor grieve in adversity. The remembrance 
of death taught this wisdom to the poet : 

iEquam memento rebus in arduis 
Servare mentem, non secus in bonis 
Ab insolenti temperatam 
Lsetitia, moriture Deli. 

HoR. Od. II. 3. 

A Christian philosopher would of course carry 
the principle much further. " When a sadness 
lies heavy upon thee (writes Jeremy Taylor), 
remember that thou art a Christian designed 
for the inheritance of Jesus. And what dost 
thou think concerning thy great fortune, thy 
lot and portion of eternity ? Dost thou think 
thou shalt be saved or damned ] Indeed if thou 
thinkest thou shalt perish, I cannot blame thee 
to be sad, sad till thy heart-strings crack : but 
then why art thou troubled at the loss of thy 
money] What should a damned man do with 
money, which in so great a sadness it is impos- 
sible for him to enjoy] Did ever any man upon 



GOOD AND EVIL. 137 

the rack afflict himself because he had received 
a cross answer firom his mistress 1 or call for the 
particulars of a purchase on the gallows V Con- 
siderations allied to these may likewise allay the 
intoxication of joy, the " insolens laetitia." 

Moreover, in regard to affliction, we have 
before us the example of our Divine Master: 
" O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup 
pass from Me : nevertheless not as I will, but 
as Thou wilt."* Also we know that out of 
apparent evil God is accustomed to bring good : 
" Whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, and 
scourgeth every son whom He receiveth. If ye 
endure chastening, God dealeth with you as 
with sons ; for what son is he whom the father 

chasteneth not ? Now no chastening for 

the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: 
nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable 
fruit of righteousness to them which are exer- 
cised thereby." f 

These considerations may assist us in disci- 
plining our minds for the accidents of life; which 
discipline is in fact a part of the business that 
every one has to do as a man placed in the 
world. 

Still pain is pain, and pleasure pleasure. God 

* M^tt. xxvi. 39. t Heb. xii. 6, et seq. 



188 GOOD AND EVIL. 

is shewn to be good by the many benefits He 
confers. We are enjoined to praise Him, because 
" He has given us rain from heaven, and fruitful 
seasons, filling our hearts with food and glad- 
ness."* We pray to Him for future benefits. We 
find that temporal good things were given to the 
Jews, according to promise, as proofs of the Divine 
favour. We have seen too that " godliness hath the 
promise of the life that now is."-}* If therefore 
anything bears upon it the semblance of good, 
such semblance is prima facie evidence that it is 
good. Accordingly, when we are required to 
act, we are justified in arguing, that if a course 
of conduct appears to be good, and there is 
nothing to shew that God will disapprove, it is 
good, and therefore He will approve. For in- 
stance, I see a man in danger of being drowned, 
and from a motive of benevolence exert myself 
to save his life : there is evidence that God will 
approve the act, as being directed to the accom- 
plishment of what appears good, viz. the pre- 
servation of human life. 

Thus then even our inquirer's first illustration 
is still apposite. He remarked (see p. 5) that fire 
when too nearly approached would scorch, but 
otherwise would cherish and warm ; and that in 

* Acts xiv. 17. t 1 Tim. iv. 8. 



GOOD AND EVIL. 139 

such a case he must avoid the evil and choose the 
good. God, no doubt, intended this rejection and 
choice. When therefore man is warmed and che- 
rished by approaching the fire, he assuredly fulfils 
the design of his benevolent Preserver, avails him- 
self of the good given, and at the time possibly, 
admitting a grateful aspiration to the Giver, 
may be said to obey St. Paul's exhortation "to 
do all things to the glory of God."* On the 
other hand, if a man should wantonly and reck- 
lessly allow himself to be scorched, would not 
his conduct, a conduct contrary to reason, God's 
guide within him, naturally be unpleasing in the 
sight of the Deity ] Here would in fact be choice 
of the evil. To choose the good and to reject the 
evil are indeed, in the first instance, primary 
principles of man's nature : still, after he has 
arrived at a knowledge of God's attributes, and of 
his own relation to God, it is manifest that these 
primary principles may be taken as indices of the 
intentions of the Creator. They become sanctified 
and hallowed by considerations, which in the 
commencement of his investigation our inquirer 
was not duly prepared to admit. Still though 
the law of self-preservation be given to man to 
obey, yet martyrs were found, who in the early 
times of Christianity encountered death, chose 

* 1 Cor. X. 31. 



140 GOOD AND EVIL. 

to be thus scorched and consumed, rather than 
surrender the truth. In fact a principle of mar- 
tyrdom is to give up the weaker law, in order that 
the stronger may be obeyed. It being shewn 
that one command of the Lawgiver is more strin- 
gent than another, it inevitably follows, that 
when these two conflict, the subject is bound to 
obey the former. Thus, on the whole, obeying 
the law, he chooses the good, though he give his 
body to be burned.* 

* In the case of martyrdom the conflict of principles is 
exhibited in a most striking and conspicuous manner. In our 
days such fiery trials are not proposed to men. Nevertheless 
self-denial and mortification of our evil passions are a portion 
of our duty (see below, Book III.). We are, as it were, to 
crucify them (Gal. v. 24). This you may, if you please, call 
a species of martyrdom. But there is a higher kind than this: 
for it often happens in the conduct of human life, that (put- 
ting mere passion out of the question) the path of duty can 
only be pursued by compelling an essentially weaker prin- 
ciple to submit to a stronger; though it be acknowledged 
that such weaker principle has force, is consistent with right 
reason, and is worthy of high consideration and respect. 
Thus, for instance, we give up father or mother for Christ's 
sake. In such cases as these possibly we are somewhat per- 
plexed, and are led perhaps to speak of a conflict of duties ; 
though the expression may not be strictly correct : there is a 
conflict of principles ; but the duty is manifestly to obey the 
stronger. Herein then, as martyrs, we make a sacrifice of 
what we know to be valuable and to possess weight, for the 
sake of giving a practical testimony to our sense of duty. 
Accordingly we choose the good. 



GOOD AND EVIL. 141 

It will have been observed, that since our 
inquirer, "recognizing the paramount obligation 
of duty to God, also acknowledges the subor- 
dinate duties to his neighbour and to himself, his 
views are now much more comprehensive than 
formerly. He is prepared to cherish and to dwell 
upon the considerations of good and evil, not 
merely as connected with the principles of self- 
preservation and selfish enjoyment: he seeks truth 
not simply as a mean to these ends; but admitting 
gratitude to God and benevolence to men, he 
loves truth as tending likewise to the carrying 
out of such grateful and benevolent sentiments. 
The term duty too is consecrated and hallowed 
by a continual reference to God, so that in fact 
this notion of a threefold duty might perhaps 
seem essentially improper, were there not always 
an implied reference to God, and a certain con- 
venience in adopting the division. The inquirer 
again loves truth not merely as furthering his 
purposes in some particular cases, but as itself 
forming an element in the Divine character ; itself 
of excellent beauty and worthy of highest admi- 
ration; itself implied in that moral harmony 
which is recognized by the mind of man and 
approved throughout Scripture ; itself tending to 
the general good of mankind, and in all cases 



142 GOOD AND EVTL. 

where it can be desired without impertinence 
or immodest intrusion, universally desirable. 

But while we thus love truth, and apply it to 
the benefit of ourselves* and others, care must 
be taken that in carrying out our obedience, 
we endeavour to do it fully and entirely : and 
that in aiming at the accomplishment of our 
objects, we use only such means as are justifiable. 
Otherwise, in our attempt to fulfil one law we 



* The language which some persons at times use, would 
seem to indicate that, though they consider themselves to 
owe a duty to their neighbour, they may do pretty much 
as they please in regard to themselves. Thus, though they 
would on no account injure the property, the health, or 
the reputation of others, they are frequently ready to sacrifice 
their own ; and so improper concessions are erroneously deemed 
the mark of exalted virtue. Here then is the fruit of liberality 
not chastised by right principle. But the commandment is, 
" Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself," not " better than 
thyself." All our powers both of body and mind, all our 
opportunities and privileges are the property of God, to be 
applied by us as stewards. We are not our own, but 
bought with a price. 

Well-meaning persons may sometimes use an exaggerated 
manner of talking, in respect to these matters, with a view 
of combating the selfish propensities of mankind: say that 
we are all too prone to promote our own interests at the 
expense of our neighbour ; these persons possibly think that 
a counteracting tendency may be supplied by the use of 
language stronger than is warrantable. But surely things 
should be stated as they are. 



GOOD AND EVIL. 143 

shall assuredly violate another. To do evil that 
good may come is contrary to our natural sense 
of propriety. It is opposed to our primary notions 
of what a being such as God, most just and 
holy, who Himself on all occasions acts with the 
most perfect rectitude, would approve. Again, 
there is an implied condemnation in the words 
of St. Paul : " We be slanderously reported, 
(l3\aa(j)r]fjLov/jL€6a), and some affirm that we say, 
Let us do evil that good may come."* Why 
slanderously^ if the thing is innocent 1 More- 
over if we do the evil, that deed is certainly 
accomplished, while the attainment of the good 
being future, is therefore uncertain. 

We may illustrate what has been said, by 
taking as an example for warning, the conduct 
of a man, who being placed in some position 
of trust, appoints an unfit person to the discharge 
of duties, for which his only recommendation is 
consanguinity (suppose) to the patron. Here the 
object, that of benefiting a kinsman, is certainly 
good. But the means are unjust. f 

In considering then all the circumstances of 

* Rom. iii. 8. 

f Euripides puts a sentiment in the mouth of Eteocles 
altogether to be repudiated : 

ELTtep yap, d^LKEiv yprj, TvpavviZoq irepi 
KoXXitTTOV ddiKelv' TiiWa ^' ev(T£(3e7p \pe(av. 



144 GOOD AND EVIL. 

his position, and laying down his principles of 
action, a man will not only recollect that he 
must seek for truth as a mean to the end that 
he may obtain good and avoid evil; but also 
his line of conduct, from the beginning to the 
termination of any enterprise, must be consistent 
with the principles of justice and propriety. 

It will not be forgotten, that a primary prin- 
ciple implanted in man's nature is that he should 
aim at the accomplishment of objects. (See p. 4.) 
This, no doubt, is a law of the Lawgiver. It was 
not intended that the human mind should lie 
fallow in unprofitable idleness. God, when He 
gave reason, designed that the gift should be 
applied. 

Also if we aim at avoiding evil, we may be 
considered as aiming at good. 

When we endeavour to discharge our duty to 
God, to our neighbour, or to ourselves, it may 
be said that we are aiming at a good object. 
Herein especially, if we take pains to appreciate 
the perfections of God, as far as our Hmited 
faculties will permit, and to estimate His deahngs 
with ourselves individually, so that we may duly 
pray to Him and praise Him, it may be con- 
sidered that we are aiming at good. 

On the whole then, to aim at objects being 
a law, and to take care that such objects be 



GOOD AND EVIL. 145 

good, being the mark of a good man ; and after 
all our reasonings the love of truth, justice, 
benevolence, becoming only still more firmly 
settled in our hearts, we may briefly assert 
as a very comprehensive principle of human 
action, the following: that is to say, In cases 
involving our moral conduct, let us at all times 
honestly endeavour to appreciate the evidence 
which discloses truth, in order that we may, 
in a proper and justifiable manner, apply it to 
the accomplishment of good objects, in obedience 
to the commands of God, and to the promotion 
of His honour and glory. 



( 146 ) 



CHAPTER XI. 



FURTHER CONSIDERATIONS RESPECTING THE 
APPLICATION OF OUR PRINCIPLES. 

It will of course be borne in mind, that in 
considering the question of the proper and jus- 
tifiable manner in which it behoves a man to 
carry out his purposes, we must observe his po- 
sition with reference to the affairs in which he 
takes part, and possibly the authority by which 
he acts. Thus the situation and circumstances 
of one person may be such, that he may, with 
the most perfect propriety, promote certain good 
objects, for the accomplishment of which it would 
be impertinent in another man, not occupying 
a similar ground, to interfere. Suppose, for in- 
stance, tjiat the government of one country should 
pretend to introduce laws for the regulation of the 
internal affairs of another independent state. The 
laws might be perfectly good ; altogether suitable 
to the wants of the people for whom they were 
intended ; vigorously executed : and yet, not ori- 
ginating in a just authority, would involve an 



THE APPLICATION OF OUR PRINCIPLES. 147 

improper and impertinent intrusion. It behoves 
man therefore to confine himself to his own legi- 
timate sphere and field of action. 

For further illustration of the necessity or 
duty of taking into account the propriety of the 
means by which we strive to obtain good, let 
us look again to what abounds in sources of in- 
structive information and example, that is to say, 
the practice of our courts of justice. It has been 
said that the business of the judge, acting for the 
good of society, is to infiict such a punishment 
upon the criminal, acknowledged to be guilty, as 
may sufiice for the terror of evil-doers, and, as 
far as possible, for the suppression of crime. But 
the question may arise. Are the means strictly 
justifiable ] First, is the evidence of that highly 
probable character which warrants a jury in 
their verdict of "guilty'"? If so, assuredly the 
criminal deserves a certain punishment; which 
society, doing no unjust thing, inflicting no un- 
deserved hardship, may, for its own protection, 
lawfully demand. Here too, as in all other 
cases where it is not above our reason. Scripture 
coincides with the voice of right reason, "Rulers 
are not a terror to good works, but to the evil 
Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power 1 
Do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise 
of the same: for he is the minister of God to 

l2 



148 FURTHER CONSIDERATIONS RESPECTING 

thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, 
be afraid ; for he beareth not the sword in vain : 
for he is the minister of God, a revenger to exe- 
cute wrath on him that doeth evil."* But the 
question still remains, What punishment is in 
any particular case to be inflicted "? Say, for the 
sake of argument, that the legislature, giving no 
discretion to the judge, has assigned, or that 
the judge, not duly using the powers entrusted 
to him, inflicts a punishment unsuitably severe ; 
a punishment, respecting the impropriety of 
which our testimony is, and indeed can be only 
this, that it ofiends the common feeling of 
men of religious and cultivated judgment, and 
is something from which such men, as it were 
instinctively, shrink : say, at all events, that the 
punishment is too severe for the oflence: then 
must we come to the conclusion, that the govern- 
ing power (i. e. the legislature which enacted an 
arbitrary law, or the judge who is harshly en- 
forcing the law), though aiming at good objects, 
is aiming at them in not a fit manner. Accord- 
ingly, though the evil-doer be terrified, and 
crime in some degree suppressed, still is there 
a fault either in the law or its administration : 
and the strictly reasonable course, that which 

* Rom. xiii. 3, 4. 



THE APPLICATION OF OUR PRINCIPLES. 1-19 

is acceptable in the sight of a just and holy 
Being, as Almighty God, is not pursued. 

Can it be considered that there is anything 
harsh in applying these observations to the san- 
guinary manner in which punishment was in- 
flicted in this country, during the last and the 
early part of the present century 1 Was society 
justified in punishing with death a man who 
stole a sheep ] Though the magistrate beareth 
not the sword in vain, may he apply it to the shed- 
ding of human blood for any and every offence 
which he may wish to prevent, o^r there may be 
difficulty in preventing '? Ought he not to con- 
sider the proper correspondence which should 
subsist between the crime and the punishment 
assigned] Is he to take no account of the ill- 
desert and the amount of what it deserves, and 
of that moral harmony which is violated by the 
arbitrary conjunction of things essentially unsuit- 
able and disproportioned ? 

If it be even doubtful whether the supreme 
power in a country is or is not justified in the 
infliction of such a punishment as that of death 
for the offence of stealing a sheep, the existence 
of such doubt is alone a sufficient bar to the in- 
fliction. For the onus prohaiidi lies upon the 
legislature. In marking out for themselves a line 
of conduct, it is not sufficient for them to say 



150 FURTHER CONSIDERATIONS RESPECTING 

they may be justified. When they act they assert 
that they are justified.* 

But what were the benefits resulting to society 
from this sanguinary infliction of punishment % 
Is there less security for life and property in 
England at the present time, ^. e. in the year 
1849, when the law or the execution thereof is 
comparatively merciful, than under the severe 
system of the last century? They who exercise 
such powers as are connected with the adminis- 
tration of justice in a country, are, without doubt, 
highly answerable for the manner in which they 
discharge the important functions committed to 

* Not many years ago there was a system of extraordinary 
severity, which shocked humane and Christian minds, adopted 
for the support of military discipline. For instance, a man 
was condemned by sentence of a court-martial to receive some 
very great number of lashes. We were informed of the 
offence, and if shocked at what might seem a disproportioned 
amount of punishment, were told of the indispensable neces- 
sity of keeping up discipline : just as we were formerly told 
that in a commercial country it was impossible to protect 
property, unless men were hanged for forgery. But admit 
the necessity of supporting military discipline; admit too, 
if you please (though some men question it), that the thing 
can only be done by flogging : still need so great a number 
of lashes as was customary have been administered ? Would 
no smaller amount have sufliced ? 

These questions have now been practically answered by an 
alteration in the law. The above remarks were written in the 
year 1845, before that alteration. 



THE APPLICATION OF OUR PRINCIPLES. 151 

their hands. A nation itself which, under any 
circumstances and for any objects, sanctions harsh 
measures, is assuredly, as a nation, responsible. 
Grant that there is a principle of retributive jus- 
tice, which, albeit imperfectly, still does exhibit 
itself even in the dispensations and arrangements 
of temporal affairs : is it not altogether agreeable 
to such a principle that too stringent proceedings, 
adopted on behalf of society, should not accom- 
plish the greater security of life and property 
which is contemplated] but, on the contrary, 
should rather recoil on their authors and abet- 
tors 1 In fact, does it not become a question how 
far experience may have tended to shew that 
such is in reality the truth 1 

But if what has been stated be one extreme, 
let us endeavour to avoid falling into the other ; 

Dum vitant stulti vitia, in contraria currunt.* 
If the magistrate beareth not the sword in vain, 
he must not yield to an undue leniency in favour 
of the offender. " Autolycus (says Jeremy Tay- 
lor) robbed the gardens of Trebonius, and asked 
him forgiveness and had it. But when Trebonius 
was chosen consul, and Autolycus robbed him 
again and was taken by others, and as a thief 
brought before him, he asked forgiveness again : 

* Hor. S. I, 2. 24. 



152 FURTHER CONSIDERATIONS RESPECTING 

but Trebonius condemned him to the galleys; 
for he, who being a private man was bound to 
forgive a repenting trespasser, being a magistrate 
was bound not to forgive him."* The duty of 
the magistrate is to protect the community ; and 
society has a right to expect that a suitable pun- 
ishment shall be administered. And who can 
doubt, who considers the moral coherence of the 
dispensation under which we live, that such duly 
proportioned punishment will, ordinarily speak- 
ing, be adequate for the accomplishment of the 
ends proposed ] 

Suppose, then, that the whole proceeding is 
carried on as we have conceived it ought to 
be : the jury are justified in their verdict of 
"guilty;" the judge pronounces a sentence sui- 
table, or not unsuitable, to the crime; society, 
having received damage, receives now that com- 
pensation to which it is fairly entitled ;f the cul- 
prit who has committed an injury is compelled 
to make reparation. The affair is not decided 
hastily, as in a rude state of society, by the wild 
vengeance of the populace ; but the matter is 
carefully sifted by persons accustomed to judge 
upon evidence, and the authority is quoted of 

* Jer. Taylor, Ductor Dub. 

f Not more than the proper compensation, as has been sup- 
posed to be the case, when blood is shed for stealing a sheep. 



THE APPLICATION OF OUR PRINCIPLES. 153 

the sovereign and the legislature, those to whose 
position the adjustment of the affair is altogether 
suitable. A further good effect of this proceeding 
may possibly be the reformation of the offender, 
though that be not the main object contemplated 
any more than the measuring out of retributive 
justice.* It may, however, be worthy of a pass- 



* If human society was so constituted that, though grievous 
crimes might be committed against God, mankind could never 
be injured, would there be ground on which to justify the 
infliction of punishment by human tribunals ? " Who art 
thou that judgest another man's servant ? To his own master 
he standeth or falleth." (Rom. xiv. 4.) 

But suppose my neighbour injures me, then possibly various 
feelings operate in my mind. I may wish to punish him ; to 
protect myself for the future ; to protect society ; to reform 
the offender. 

Revenge, however, is forbidden in Scripture. Even in re- 
gard to just anger, " which is not only innocent but a generous 
movement of mind." " Be ye angry, and sin not : let not the 
sun go down upon your wrath." (Eph. iv. 26.) 

With respect to what Butler calls settled and deliberate 
resentment : " After an injury is done, and there is a necessity 
that the offender should be brought to justice, the cool con- 
sideration of reason that the security and peace of society 
requires examples of justice should be made, might indeed be 
sufficient to procure laws to be enacted and sentence passed : 
but is it that cool reflection in the injured person which, for 
the most part, brings the offender to justice ? Or is it not 
resentment and indignation against the injury and the author 
of it ? I am afraid there is no doubt which is commonly the 
case. This, however, is to be considered as a good effect, 



154 FURTHER CONSIDERATIONS RESPECTING 

ing remark, that the necessities of men living 
together in a state of society, a state ordained 



notwithstanding it were much to be wished that men would 
act from a better principle, reason, and cool reflection/' — But- 
ler's Sermons. 

Here then is a recognition of the better principle. 

It may perhaps seem difficult to mark out the exact boun- 
daries between the principle of deliberate resentment and re- 
venge. 

According to Butler, every man being a natural object of 
our benevolence, that benevolence ought not to be destroyed, 
though it may be lessened, when we suffer an injury. " It is 
not man's being a social creature (he writes), much less his 
being a moral agent, from whence alone our obligations to 
good-will towards him arise. There is an obligation to it 
prior to either of these, arising from his being a sensible 
creature, that is, capable of happiness or misery. Now this 
obligation cannot be superseded by his moral character." At 
all events, Scripture teaches us to love our enemies. Good- 
will therefore must not be destroyed by their misconduct. 

There is plainly an abuse when " pain or harm of any kind 
is inflicted merely in consequence of, and to gratify deliberate 
resentment, though naturally raised." 

Let resentment however, or righteous indignation as it has 
been termed, burn fiercely against evil principles. Some of 
this flame, especially at its outbreak, will perhaps scorch the 
offender. He at least cannot complain, if it afterwards assists 
in accomplishing his just punishment ; much less if it merely 
enables men to tolerate such punishment, and counteracts the 
weakness of compassion. But let those who punish, at least 
propose to themselves ulterior good. Let their minds too be 
softened by reflecting, that " in the course of justice none of 
us should see mercy ;" that the offender is a child of Adam, 



THE APPLICATiON OF OUR PRINCIPLES. 155 

by the Creator, not only lead them to the relief 
of those necessities, but also indirectly aid in 
carrying out the general economy of Providence, 
as exemplified in the award of retributive justice 



a fellow-smner, one for whom Christ died, and for whom we 
humbly hope the Atonement may yet be effectual. 

We may remember also that the same sins in different 
persons are of very different guilt. A ccordingly it is recorded 
of a wise and learned man, that when he heard of a criminal 
condemned to die, he used to think, " Who can tell if this 
man is not better than I ? Or if I am better, it is not to be 
ascribed to myself, but to the goodness of God." (See John- 
son's Life of Boerhaave.) Who shall say, " God, I thank thee 
that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, 
or even as this Publican"? (Luke xviii. 11.) In fact, guilt 
can only be truly estimated by the Judge of the whole earth : 
He knows the offender's natural temperament ; the discipline 
to which he has been subjected ; his use of the opportunities 
he has had ; the strength of the temptation under which he 
has fallen. 

We seem to want then something more than the notion of 
administering retributive justice, as a principle on which to 
punish criminals. A judge is said to have told a prisoner, 
" You are not punished because you stole a horse, but in 
order that liorses may not be stolen." Though the judge 
might perhaps have spoken with more accuracy, his words 
nevertheless contain the pith of the matter, the main object of 
the proceeding. Still we must have the proved guilt of the 
accused, without which no act can justly be done. If any one 
should for a moment suppose, that under certain circumstances 
the infliction of pain upon an innocent person might benefit 
society ; this, I conceive, is a benefit which society has no 
right either to demand or to expect. 



156 FURTHER CONSIDERATIONS RESPECTING 

and the reformation of men's minds by a system 
of pain and punishment. 

There has been much discussion among mo- 
ralists respecting what is called the principle of 
Expediency : and the word is one of necessarily 
frequent usage. The sense in which the term 
appears to be understood is the following. It 
being admitted that men are to choose the good 
and reject the evil ; it becomes, according to this 
principle, our duty to calculate what line of 
action, on any particular occasion, promises the 
most good, what threatens the most evil, and so 
to regulate our conduct. General as well as 
particular consequences are to be considered.* 
Nevertheless, in the practical development and 
application of the principle, many persons appear 
not enough to consider, that though God in- 
tended us to choose the good and to avoid the 
evil; still He also intended us to prosecute our 
undertakings in a proper and justifiable manner, 
not, in fact, to do evil that good may come. -I" It 
is good, as we have seen above, for the creature 
entirely to fulfil the designs of the Creator. Such 
fulfilment is in the whole issues and events of 
things really expedient. " Duty and interest (ac- 
cording to Butler) are perfectly coincident; for 
the most part in this world, but entirely, and in 

* See Paley's Moral Philosophy. f See p. 143. 



THE APPLICATION OF OUR PRINCIPLES. 157 

every instance, if we take in the future and the 
whole : this being implied in the notion of a 
good and perfect administration of things." 

An illustration of the application of this doc- 
trine of expediency in its narrow sense may (I 
conceive) be found in what has been already 
mentioned, viz. the too severe (if it be granted 
that it was too severe) punishment of criminals 
in the last century.* Take what may perhaps 
be allowed to be another illustration: Say that 
a thief having stolen the notes of a banker, a 
negotiation is carried on, by which the latter 
recovers his notes, paying the thief a sum of 
money for their restoration. Here of course the 
banker would plead the principle of expediency : 
though perhaps, even according to his own 
notions, it might be answered, that it was ques- 
tionable whether the evil of the general conse- 
quence did not overbalance the good of the 
particular consequence: for the general conse- 

* There appeared lately in a newspaper the following para- 
graph : *' In the reign of Henry the Eighth, according to 
Hume, 2000 criminals were executed annually; and during 
the whole period that he swayed the sceptre, 72,000 were put 
to death : yet Sir Thomas Moore averred, that property and 
person were never more insecure. In the reign of Elizabeth, 
from 300 to 400 suffered every year by the hands of the 
public executioner. England nevertheless was in a dreadful 
state of disorder." 



158 FURTHER CONSIDERATIONS RESPECTING 

quence would be that thieves would thus acquire 
additional facilities in disposing of stolen property, 
and that a greater encouragement would there- 
fore be given to theft. But would not the full 
and condemnatory answer be the following: viz. 
that the design of recovering his property, or 
a portion thereof, though good, was carried out 
in a manner not fit, not justifiable, and that his 
proceeding involved the recognition of what he 
knew to be a felony '? 

With a view to further illustration, let us as- 
sume that in many cases which are investigated 
by our courts of law, it is the province of the 
jury simply to determine whether the prisoner 
did the act with which he is charged. They are 
not judges of the propriety of the law which 
punishes an offence, any more than of the amount 
of punishment suitable to such offence. Suppose 
then that a person is accused of having wilfully 
and deliberately killed a fellow-creature, that 
the evidence against him is conclusive, but that 
the jury nevertheless acquits the prisoner be- 
cause the thing has been done in a duel. Admit, 
if you please, in the way of mitigation, that the 
duel has been what is called a fair one; that 
certain prejudices of society have sanctioned and 
supported the custom ; and that the provocation 
in this particular case has been great: what, 



THE APPLICATION OF OUR PRINCIPLES. 159 

nevertheless, will be the inference respecting the 
conduct of the jury'? Will it not be that they 
have been endeavouring to accomplish what 
they conceived to be good (whether rightly or 
not is another question) in a manner not fit, 
not defensible ] That they have been departing 
from their proper sphere, and taking care, not 
that their verdict should be (as the very word 
implies, and their oath obliged them) a true one ; 
but that there should not follow consequences, 
respecting which they were in reality not at all 
responsible? Are we not warranted, then, in 
characterising such behaviour as a sacrifice of 
truth, and that too on a most solemn and sacred 
occasion, to unchastised notions of benevolence 
and expediency 1 

ovde adevEiV roaovrov uofj-qv rd ad 
KripvyjiaQ^ wot' dypaitTa KaacpaXrj Qeujv 
vofju/jia dvraadat dyr)-oi> ovd' vizepZpajxeiv. 

Soph. Ant.* 

* It is of course plain, that in what is nominally the same 
offence, there may be all kinds of aggravation or palliation. 
If one man unlawfully kills another, the legislature assigns 
a punishment. Any mitigation of punishment rests with 
the government. 

If the government can at all be trusted, is not such an 
arrangement in general good? Mitigation is simple and 
easy : whereas you cannot increase a punishment, to meet 
the circumstances of a given case, which perhaps deserves 
a heavier punishment than lenient laws may assign. 



160 FURTHER CONSIDERATIONS RESPECTING 

There are of course some cases, in which the 
means and manner of gaining the good and 

What conduct can be more injurious to society, what guilt 
more heinous, than that of duellists who have systematically 
and wantonly provoked challenges, and, aware of their own 
superior skill in the use of weapons, have rejoiced in the 
final arbitrement, an appeal to arms ? Are not such men mur- 
derers in spirit, and ought not the law to hold them in its 
grasp ? 

But admit that these cases, though formerly more frequent, 
are now but rare : nevertheless will the practice of duelling 
in general be defended ? " Thou shalt not kill" is the law, 
written in the statute-book, in Scripture, in man's heart. 
The advocates of duelling then must shew that their case 
is an exception to a general rule, their homicide justifiable. 

In the army the practice has been frequent. The Prince 
de Conde however, a soldier and the son of a soldier, in 
an age not very famous for its Christian forbearance, held, 
"Que c'^toit k tort que la noblesse faisoit consister son 
honneur dans ces sortes de combats ; qu' ils ^toient absolu- 
ment contraires aux commandemens de la Loi divine; que 
nous ^tions obligez de rapporter toutes nos pensees et nos 
actions k la gloire de Dieu, et non k la n6tre ; que nOtre 
salut dependoit uniquement de I'observation de ses preceptes; 
qu' il n'etoit permis de tirer Fepee que par I'ordre du Prince, 
pour la defense de la patrie, ou pour celle de sa vie." — 
Mem. de De Thou. 

The words of one of the most able defenders of duelling are 
as follows : " As men become in a high degree refined, various 
causes of ofi'ence arise ; which are considered to be of such im- 
portance, that life must be staked to atone for them, though 
in reality they are not so. A body that has received a very 
fine polish may be easily hurt. Before men arrive at this 
artificial refinement, if one tells his neighbour he lies, his 



THE APPLICATION OF OUR PRINCIPLES. 161 

avoiding the evil, are stamped with peculiar 
marks of propriety and justice, wherein the 

neighbour tells him he lies; if one gives his neighbour a 
blow, his neighbour gives him a blow. But in a state of 
highly polished society, an affront is held to be a serious 
injury. It must therefore be resented, or rather a duel must 
be fought upon it ; as men have agreed to banish from their 
society, one who puts up with an affront without fighting 
a duel. Now it is never unlawful to fight in self-defence. 
He then who fights a duel, does not fight from passion 
against his antagonist, but out of self-defence ; to avert the 
stigma of the world, and to prevent himself from being 
driven out of society. I could wish there was not that 
superfluity of refinement ; but while such notions prevail, no 
doubt a man may lawfully fight a duel." — Boswell's Life of 
Johnson. 

If these arguments are sound, would not the principle 
seem to be, In any case, where any man designs to injure 
me, if all other means of defence are excluded, it is lawful 
for me to defend myself by killing him? For where is 
the line to be drawn? Various questions arise. May I 
thus protect my life, when certainly, or probably, or possibly 
in danger ? my property from violence or fraud ? If the 
petty pilferer is escaping from my farm-yard, may I stop 
his flight, aud save perhaps my duck, by shooting him ? 
If the oppressor with the assistance of human laws, which 
are imperfect, designs to crush me, or the knave to cheat 
me, and no way of deliverance but by his death is open ; 
if I can secretly and safely kill him, may I morally? Is 
my honour then so dear, and my course of action so manifest, 
that this honour must be redeemed with blood ? Are we 
not almost tempted to exclaim with Horace — 

mendax infamia terret 

Quem ? 

M 



162 FURTHER CONSIDERATIONS RESPECTING 

person who acts is, from his position, character, 
or qualifications especially suited for the duty he 



However it is doubtless painful to be driven from society: 
yet a man may betake himself to society uninitiated in duel- 
ling. It is painful to live in poverty : 

Nil habet infelix paupertas durius in se, 
Quam quod ridiculos homines facit. Juv.; 
still it may be borne. 

Even Johnson admitted that he could not explain the 
rationality of duelling; for the injured person risked his 
life equally with the aggressor. 

Sometimes the greatness of the provocation is urged in favour 
of the duellist. But what says the law ? Not only, Thou 
shalt not kill, but also *' Avenge not yourselves : vengeance 
is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord." (Rom. xii. 19). " If 
ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father 
forgive your trespasses.'* (Matth. vi. 15). 

It may perhaps be alleged that the principle of duelling 
tends to preserve the peace and comfort of society: rude 
and arbitrary minds are checked by fear of results: and 
though occasionally one man be killed, multitudes are bene- 
fited. 

This argument I conceive has force, but is it sufficient ? 
Might not some other method of preserving the comfort 
of society be devised? Are the advantages gained worth 
the price paid for them ? Is the individual the proper judge 
of what is or is not on the whole beneficial to society ? The 
legislature, which has authority to judge, and to which he 
is subject, " not only for wrath but also for conscience 
sake/' condemns the practice. Yet to establish his case he 
ought to have a plain preponderance of argument, sufficient 
to overrule not merely the law of his country, but the com- 
mand of the Decalogue. 



THE AFPLICATION OF OUR PRINCIPLES, 163 

has undertaken. There are other cases, in which 
though the end (as we have seen) be good, the 
means, manner, or person are objectionable. 
Other occasions there, no doubt, are, whereon the 
endeavour to gain the good or to avoid the evil 
will alone warrant the conduct adopted, the 
means and manner and person presenting no 
peculiar appearance either of propriety or im- 
propriety. Actions which are distinguished from 
those of a beast or a bad man are carried on 
with reference to a good end,* and a good inten- 



Admit however whatsoever may be fairly urged in pallia- 
tion of duelling or of any particular duel. Will it be denied, 
that in the present day the government is always ready to 
take account of mitigating circumstances ? Why then should 
the jury mistrust the government, and le&t the offender should 
be punished too severely, acquit him altogether? virtually 
assert that there is no proof he did the act, when the evidence 
that he did it is irresistible ? 

It is not long since all this happened in England. 

* See above, p. 6. " As to choose an end distinguishes a 
man from a beast, so to choose a good end is the distinction 
of a good man.'* (Jeremy Taylor). " If you caress a 4og (it 
may be asked) or a child, what object do jou propose to 
yourself?" "Natural necessity (writes Taylor) and the ex- 
ample of St. John, who recreated himself with sporting with 
a tame partridge, teach us that it is lawful to relax and un- 
bend our bow." " In smaller actions (he says) and little 
things, and indifferent, fail not to secure a pious habitual in- 
tention ; that is, that it be included within your general care 
that no action have an ill end : and that it be comprehended 

M 2 



ffi 



164 FURTHER CONSIDERATIONS RESPECTING 

tion may, though at the same time it may not be 
able alone to justify conduct. 

When we aim at good, there is, ordinarily 
speaking, a certainty, or a probability, or at all 
events a reasonable chance, of possessing power 
to accomplish our design. Some cases are clear, 
where there is plainly power or want of power to 
execute plans. Others are doubtful. Yet a course 
of conduct may sometimes be justified, where 
there is neither a moral certainty nor a proba- 
bility, but only a chance more or less favourable, 
that we shall accomplish our purposes. " Num- 
berless instances (observes Butler) might be 
mentioned, respecting the common pursuits of 
life, where a man would be thought in a literal 
sense distracted, who would not act, and with 
great application too, not only upon an even 
chance, but upon much less, and where the pro- 
bability or chance was greatly against his suc- 
ceeding." It must however of course be implied, 
that there is some possible combination of future 

in your general prayers, whereby you offer yourself and all 
you do to God's glory." In this general care you will take 
account of your necessary recreations: thus they will be 
distinguished from the sportive gambols of the lower animals. 
But while you caress, you also encourage a child who is the 
object of your affection : while you give vent to this affection, 
you shew him the bond of kindness by which mankind is 
united. 



THE APPLICATION OF OUR PRINCIPLES. 165 

circumstances under which we may succeed, i.e, 
that there is or may be a power whereby what 
we endeavour to accomplish may turn out and 
come to pass. Otherwise, to proceed in our 
undertaking is clearly unreasonable : and since 
reason is God's Hght within us, whereby to guide 
our conduct, there is on this account a moral 
delinquency if we do proceed. 

As it is our duty to exercise our reasoning 
powers, to apply the means given for the guid- 
ance of our path, it is therefore assuredly our 
business to take care that the thing aimed at be 
worth the price paid for it.* Estimate, if you 
please, its value if attained, and the probability 
of attainment. Consider also the sacrifices to be 
made, the difficulties to be encountered, the 
labours to be undergone in the pursuit. Judge 

* One great fault in undisciplined minds seems to be the 
entertainment of exaggerated notions respecting the value of 
objects proposed to them ; which accordingly they ])ursue with 
the most vehement ardour and impetuosity, and in the pursuit 
often sacrifice health, character, fortune, things of real, though 
it be granted not of greatest value. " Our vices (as has 
been before quoted from Jeremy Taylor) are in love with fan- 
tastic pleasures and images of perfection : " whereas there is, 
in fact, no such perfection in any temporal object which we 
can propose to ourselves. No pursuit, referring to, merely 
temporal objects, is worthy of the highest love, the undivided 
attention, the entii'e mind of man created in the image of 
God. Such devotion on man's part is in truth idolatry. 



166 FURTHER CONSIDERATIONS, &C. 

too whether it be morally certain, or probable, 
or only possible, or not very improbable, that 
there really will be these sacrifices, difficulties, 
and labours. The decision of such questions is 
often involved in the greatest intricacy and per- 
plexity. Be it recollected however that in carry- 
ing out your thoughts to a conclusion, you must 
not be limited by any mean and narrow views of 
expediency ; but it behoves you to judge, whether 
the contemplated course of action is altogether 
suitable to your position and circumstances, and 
such as God your Lord and Master will probably 
approve: indeed, until you are convinced on 
this point, it will be premature in you to call it 
on the whole good. 



( 167 ) 



CHAPTEE XIL 



GENERAL OBSEKVATIONS. 



We will now conclude this part of our sub- 
ject with a few reflections on what has been 
adduced. 

In the first place, it will have been observed, 
in what a remarkable manner the considerations 
of highly probable evidence are connected with 
the primary principles of natural and revealed 
religion. 

1. The mind of man is convinced by expe- 
rience, that a necessity compels him to admit 
this highly probable evidence as his guide in 
the common affairs of life ; moreover he perceives 
that he thus ordinarily obtains his object, truth. 

2. Hence his mind being prepared and trained, 
he more readily admits this kind of evidence with 
reference to the existence and attributes of the 
Deity, and his own relation to God as his 
Creator, Preserver, Lawgiver: and his convic- 
tion of the truth of these elements of natural 
religion is strengthened and matured. 



168 GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 

3. He is now led to conclude, that in matters 
concerning human conduct it is right as well as 
necessary to admit this highly probable evidence : 
and his belief is confirmed that he shall thus 
ordinarily obtain truth ; for to receive such evi- 
dence is to obey the law of God, a God of truth. 

4. Thus armed, he proceeds to the consider- 
ation of revealed religion ; and appreciating both 
the intrinsic weight of the evidence, and the 
importance of the subject-matter, he willingly 
receives what is proposed as truth. 

5. Having admitted revelation, and obtained 
definite ideas of the extent of human responsi- 
bility, he again recurs to the law of highly pro- 
bable evidence ; and being assured that God has 
not only enacted, but that He vindicates and 
supports this law among other laws by a system 
of rewards and punishments, he finds a sense of 
its importance still more deeply impressed upon 
his mind. 

6. The propriety of obeying this law then is 
altogether manifest. For, to sum up what has 
been said, obedience is necessary, right, expe- 
dient. 

On the whole therefore, as man has perpetually 
to act, it is plainly his constant business to dis- 
cover what is more or less like truth ; and from 
the likeness to infer that he has obtained the 



GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 169 

thing itself, Le, truth. The inference is in one 
case an easy step, which the mind is ready with- 
out hesitation to take : in another a wide and 
deep chasm intervenes, which is to be overleapty 
and yet not without reluctance and difficulty. 
The similitude of truth, presenting innumerable 
degrees of likeness, is to truth itself as a mathe- 
matical curve, which continually approaches but 
never reaches its asymptote. And in regard both 
to justice and goodness, we treasure in our minds 
abstract ideas of these principles, but we can 
never, on any given occasion, assert, with philo- 
sophical strictness, more than that we have per- 
ceived what appears to be just or good. For, at 
least, certain facts or circumstances must be ob- 
tained as preliminary to our considerations of what 
is just or good. Thus the judge assumes the guilt 
of the prisoner before he proceeds to punishment. 
Admit then, if you please, that if the offence has 
been committed, the sentence is most just ; still, 
if you have only probable evidence of guilt, you 
have but the same that justice is done. But 
even if the accused is certainly guilty, the judge 
as a man may err, or the legislature as fallible 
may have assigned an undue amount of punish- 
ment. Observations to the same effect may be 
made in regard to what appears good.* Such 



* See above, p. 135. 



170 GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 

is man's condition, such the limitation of his 
faculties. 

The human mind, however, is naturally in- 
quisitive ; it thirsts to know. In mathematical 
reasonings it seems to approach so nearly to the 
grasp of the truth it covets, that the ques- 
tions have sometimes been asked, Whether when 
confined to these studies the mind is not perhaps 
too apt to require similarly cogent proof of other 
truths presented for its reception ] Whether men 
are not thus^sometimes led into error, by refusing 
to admit what, by the law of highly probable evi- 
dence, they''are bound to acknowledge ] Whether 
in truth they fully appreciate that law, and are 
duly contented with what God has given to man"?* 

* A critic in the Quarterly , reviewing the autobiography of 
Bishop Watson, writes thus : We begin with a very remark- 
able passage, which strikingly corroborates an observation of 
Warburton, that long addiction to mathematical pursuits in- 
capacitates the mind from weighing the various degrees of 
moral proof: " I was early in life accustomed to mathematical 
discussion, and the certainty attending it ; and not meeting 
with that certainty in the science of metaphysics, of natural 
and revealed religion, I have an habitual tendency to hesita- 
tion in judgment, rather than to a peremptory judgment on 
many points." 

" To expect a produce of wheat from the seed and culti- 
vation of barley, or the fruit of the olive-tree from the plant 
and culture of the vine, would, in common life, be marked as 
an absurdity akin to madness. So to suppose that truths from 



GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 171 

It has been asserted by persons to whom these 
questions have perhaps occurred, and who have 
at all events rightly disapproved of the demands 
of a mind unsatisfied with moral proof, that it 
seems a more holy and proper thing for men to 
believe than to know the secrets of divine truth. 
In regard to all this it may seem sufficient to 
remark, that the state of man is what it is. Had 
the question been considered of endowing man 
with higher powers of investigating and appre- 
ciating truth ; surely we cannot pretend a priori 
to judge whether such a course would or would 
not have been consistent with the character of 
the Creator, with the accomplishment of the 
objects which it was proper to contemplate, with 
the obstacles and difficulties interposed. We are 
ignorant of the state of the case, and therefore 
on this ground alone it would be presumptuous 
in us to pretend to judge on such a question. 
But, on the other hand, it behoves us to en- 
deavour truly to estimate the position and cir- 



different principles, and deduced in a different way will result 
the same, will shine with an equal degree of brightness, or be 
attended with the same measure of conviction, involves an 
absurdity equally great, though perhaps not quite so glarings 
Yet whilst the former is an absurdity, of which the peasant is 
utterly incapable, the latter has too often disgraced the phi- 
losopher or theologist." — Tatham's Bampton Lectures. 



172 GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 

cumstances in which we are placed. If the law 
of probable evidence is really given by God to 
men, His subjects, it will be our wisdom as well 
as our duty, not to waste our time and talents 
in fanciful speculations upon matters respecting 
which we are necessarily incompetent judges; 
but to apply ourselves to the fulfilment of that 
which we are appointed to fulfil in the manner 
ordained by the Lawgiver. If this highly pro- 
bable evidence ordinarily leads to truth,* and is 
sufficient for our guidance, as it assuredly is, and 
experience perpetually shews us, no just ground 
of complaint can lie against the Creator. He has 
given us what He has given. As to say, that had 
it pleased Him He could not have given more, 
would seem beyond our powers of judging ; so 
to repine or murmur as if He had treated us 
harshly, would imply something worse than 
judging without evidence, viz. the judging 
against it.f 

* In regard even to what is called Demonstrative Evidence, 
a pious mind may recollect that our faculties are but those of 
created and dependent beings. We still trust that our Creator 
and Protector would not allow us to be deceived by evidence 
which it is physically impossible for us not to receive. With 
respect to moral evidence, we trust that the Moral Governor 
of the universe would not allow His subjects to be deceived 
by evidence, which it is impossible for them as moral agents 
not to receive. 

t In regard to all this, see Butler's Analogy. 



GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 173 

We read in Scripture of " the trial of our 
faith."* Why God should place man in a state 
of trial, we are not fully informed. f Still the 
thing has been done, and therefore was certainly 
proper. . But it being granted that it was fit so 
to place man, it is plain that the very difficulties 
by which he is perplexed constitute a trial. If 
evidence was so overpowering that it irresistibly 
compelled conviction, men's trial would be dif- 
ferent from what it is. Here then we have the 
key to an answer which, among others, should 
be made to the unbeliever mentioned by Paley, 
who said that if God had given a revelation to 
man, He would have written it in the skies. 

Great principles connected with man's conduct 
and recognised in Scripture, are faith, hope, and 
charity.J When we believe that things have 
been, are, will be, love and hope are the powers 
that move us to action. We are convinced that 
God really has done, does, and will do those 
things, of which the evidence is before us. 
Therefore we love Him, and hope to enjoy the 
fulfilment of His promises. Accordingly we obey 
Him. Scripture, in recognising these first ele- 



* 1 Pet. i. 7. 

f See below, Book iv. chap. vi. : also Butler's Analogy. 

i 1 Cor. xiii. 13. 



174 GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 

ments, admits what is implanted in the very 
nature of man. Long before the advent of our 
Saviour, these principles continually operated, 
though their objects might be innumerable and 
merely temporal. They operate now among the 
natives of Africa, who never heard the name of 
Christ. The savage is perpetually moved by 
love and hope ; and what does he love and hope 
for, but things which he believes do or may 
exist 1 

The matters, therefore, which have been the 
subject of our discussion, have a general con- 
nection with all the affairs of men, of every age 
^nd country, both in respect to the present life 
and that which is to come. 

In God all truth, justice, goodness dwell. He 
accordingly, at all times, perceives things as they 
-are, certainly true or certainly false, just or un- 
just, good or evil. In the image of Ood man was 
created. The tendency of sin has been to destroy 
that resemblance: power however is given for 
restoration and recovery. The good and evil 
principles still conflict; and therefore the like- 
ness, more or less vivid, yet remains. Accord- 
ingly we obtain images of what is triie, just, and 
good. Our boundaries, nevertheless, are assigned 
us ; and the creature, as might be expected, re- 
mains immeasurably inferior to his great Creator. 



GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 175 

In Holy Writ we have frequent examples of 
the feeling of reverential awe with which men 
regarded the majesty of the Almighty ; and thus 
the idea is often expressed, that having seen God 
a man would die.* After the communications 
vouchsafed by the Almighty to Moses, the coun- 
tenance of the prophet was so glorious, that the 
children of Israel could not steadfastly behold his 
face, which he was therefore obliged to veil.f 
But though God had spoken unto him as a man 
speaketh unto his friend, and the prophet was 
therefore emboldened to ask that he might see 
His glory ; still this very Moses was told that 
no man could see Him and live. J Let us then, 
who, like the Israelites guided by the pillar of 
fire, are but strangers and pilgrims journeying 
to our true country, though guided indeed by 
supernatural light, cheerfully acquiesce in the 
laws of our present condition. Hereafter it may 
be granted to us " to see Him as He is,"|| " face 
to face,"§ " to know even as we are known." 
Meantime let us remember, that though what it 
has been proper to withhold from us has been 
withheld, still much has been freely given: let 



* Exod. XX. 19 ; xxxiii. 20. Judg. xiii. 22. 

t 2 Cor. iii. J Exod. xxxiii. 

I 1 John iii. 2. § 1 Cor. xiii. 12. 



176 GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 

US reverently, and at a distance, admire the bright 
perfections of the Deity, and adore Him — 

The Author of all being, 
Fountain of light, Himself invisible, 
Amidst the glorious brightness, where He sits 
Throned inaccessible. 

Paradise Lost, hi. 377. 



THE END OF BOOK II. 



BOOK III. 

EEFLECTIONS mO^ THE INSTINCTIVE MOHNG PEINCIPLES 
OF MAN, AS CONNECTED WITH OUE SUBJECT. 



CHAPTER I. 



THE CONCLUSIONS HERETOFORE OBTAINED NOT TO 
BE SHAKEN BY THE POWER OF THE INSTINCTIVE 
MOVING PRINCIPLES. THE HIGHER PARTS OF 
OUR NATURE DESIGNED TO GOVERN THE LOWER. 

Thus far our inquirer has been mainly oc- 
cupied in considering what may be termed the 
higher part of man's nature ; and has arrived at 
conclusions from which we trust he will not be 
shaken. He has likewise admitted what we may 
call instinctive moving principles, love and hope, 
recognised in Scripture, and naturally holding 
a place in the human heart. He has allowed 
too, that if for no other reason than to assist 
man's weakness, particular maxims ought to be 
treasured up in his mind; and approving and 
loving such maxims, he will again be moved 
as it were instinctively to action. 

It would not indeed be difficult to imagine a 
being of strong and resolute mind, who might, 
at all times and under all circumstances, clearly 
perceive what was true and right, and at once 

n2 



180 THE HIGHER PARTS OF OUR NATURE 

act comformably. This however does not seem 
suitable to our ideas of a created and dependent, 
much less a fallen being. It is certainly not 
the state of man. 

It is possible too to conceive a creature, of 
whom what has been prominently exhibited in 
our former books might be the characteristic 
features, and nothing more. Such however is 
not our condition. 

Our inquirer then having not yet taken a 
sufficient survey of his position, it will behove 
him still more accurately to look around. At 
the commencement of his investigation, he had 
smarted from pain and betaken himself to ab- 
stract meditation. Hence he had been well-nigh 
disposed, if possible, wholly to eject the moving 
principles from which, not having duly regu- 
lated them, he had suffered. But the remedy 
would have been stronger than the disease needed. 
Men do not altogether quench fire because houses 
and even towns have sometimes been burnt : 
water is useful, though floods have desolated 
whole districts. Moreover even Scripture has 
shewn that love and hope must be admitted. 
Hunger and thirst at least we cannot expel; 
which are recognised too in Scripture, as well 
as the other appetite common to man and the 
brutes. But the Apostle also tells us to " rejoice 



DESIGNED TO GOVERN THE LOWER. 181 

with them that do rejoice, and to weep with 
them that weep."* At the tomb of Lazarus 
" Jesus wept."-|- St. Paul writes, '•' Godly sorrow 
worketh repentance to salvation, not to be re- 
pented of; but the sorrow of the world worketh 
death. "J On one occasion Jesus looked round 
about upon the by-standers " with anger, being 
grieved for the heardness of their hearts."|| So 
"Be ye angry and sin not : let not the sun go 
down upon your wrath. "§ Though we are told 
that "perfect love casteth out fear,"^ still our 
Saviour bids us " fear Him, which after He hath 
killed hath power to cast into hell."** Again, 
if we are to propose to ourselves good objects, 
and pray for their accomplishment, how can we 
but desire them 1 Desire indeed is included in 
our notions of love and hope. We have like- 
wise continual warnings against pride, hatred, 
envy, revenge. Scripture too being addressed to 
men, and claiming authority to exercise power 
in their hearts, and a part of the evidence which 
supports it being its suitableness to the nature 
of men, it would indeed be strange if it did not 
take account of these emotions; which, as our 



* Rom. xii. 15. f John xi. 35. | 2 Cor. vi. 10. 

II Mark. iii. 5. § Eph. iv. 26. f 1 John iv. 18. 

** Luke xii. 9. 



182 THE HIGHER PARTS OF OUR NATURE 

own observation and experience teach us, find a 
place in the human heart.* 

Homo sum, humani nihil a me alienum puto.f 

Again, 

Naturam expelles furc^, tamen usque recurret.J 
Here is the man still retaining his susceptibiHty 
of emotions ; he is surrounded by objects which 
continually solicit them ; and if it was desirable, 
the question would nevertheless occur, how far 
it was possible, as it were, to sear his heart. 

On the whole therefore we conclude, that nu- 
merous instinctive moving principles he must 
have. The entire class then claims his attention: 
and the question arises. In what way to deal with 
them? Are they all indiscriminately to dwell 
within him ] If not all, which '? Again, to what 
objects are they to be directed ? With what force, 
and to what extent, are they to operate 1 

We have already turned our attention to par- 
ticular moving principles mentioned in Scripture. 
From Dugald Stewart we may obtain the fol- 



* Even God, though without body, parts, or passions, has 
been pleased (in condescension to man's weakness) to allow 
Himself to be represented as influenced by human emotions. 
" I the Lord thy God am a jealous God." " It repented the 
Lord that He had made man on the earth ; and it grieved 
Him at His heart." 

t Terence. J Hor. p:pist. i. 10, 24. 



DESIGNED TO GOVERN THE LOWER. 183 

lowing catalogue of what he terms "our in- 
stmctive principles of action." 

1. The Appetites; hunger, thirst, that by 
which the species is continued. 

2. The Desires ; the desire of knowledge, the 
desire of society, the desire of esteem, the desire 
of power,* emulation or the desire of superi- 
ority, f 

3. The Affections : the affections of kindred, 
of friendship, of patriotism, of pity to the dis- 
tressed, of resentment. 

To the Desires, Abercrombie adds the desire 
of action, " that restless activity of mind, which 
leads it to require some object on which its 
powers must be exercised, and without which it 
preys upon itself and becomes miserable." (See 
pp. 5, 144). 

* Avarice (he says) is a particular modification of the 
desire of power. 

f In regard to envy, " He who runs a race (writes Reid) 

feels uneasiness at seeing another outstrip him But this 

uneasiness may produce one of two very different effects. It 
may incite him to make more vigorous exertions, and to strain 
every nerve to get before his rival. This is fair and honest 

emulation But if he has not fairness and candour of 

heart, he will look with an evil eye on his competitor, and 
will endeavour to trip him or throw a stiimJbling-block in his 
way. This is pure envy, the most malignant passion that 
can lodofe in the human breast." 



184 THE HIGHER PARTS OF OUR NATURE 

" Self-love, (says Butler) and interestedness 
consists in an affection to ourselves, a regard to 
our own private good ; it is distinct from bene- 
volence, which is an affection to the good of our 
fellow-creatures." 

Speaking of affection in general, " The excess 
(he writes,) since it cannot procure enjoyment, 
must in all cases be useless ; but it is generally 
attended with inconvenience, and often is down- 
right pain and misery. This holds as much with 
regard to self-love as to all other affections. The 

natural degree of it may be to our real 

advantage." But " private interest is so far from 
being likely to be promoted in proportion to the 
degree in which self4ove engrosses us and pre- 
vails over all other principles, that the contracted 
affection may be so prevalent as to disappoint 
itself, and even contradict its own end, private 
good."* 



* However ^' it is manifest," he says, " that self-love is in 
human nature a superior principle to passion. This may be 
contradicted without violating that nature, but the former 
cannot." 

According to Stewart, " It is implied in the very idea of 
happiness, that it is a desirable object ; and therefore self-love 
is an active principle, very different from those which have 

been hitherto considered The desire of happiness may be 

called a rational principle of action, being peculiar to a ratio- 
nal nature, and inseparably connected with it. It is impos- 



DESIGNED TO GOVERN THE LOWER. 185 

The existence of the Affections and Desires 
classified by Stewart and Abercrombie seems to 

sible to conceive a being, capable of forming the notions of 
happiness and misery, to whom the one shall not be an ob- 
ject of desire, and the other of aversion." 

To use proper means tending to the accomplishment of what 
appears on the whole good for ourselves or for others, is a 
right application of the principles of self-love or benevolence. 
Such conduct, when sanctified by a sense of religion, is, as 
has been shewn above, altogether suitable to our position. 

Whether we shall obtain the good we desire, is sometimes 
doubtful. 

A learned writer has remarked, that the greater part of 
mankind can never attain such extensive views of human life, 
and so correct a judgment of good and ill, as the right appli- 
cation of the principle of Expediency requires. 

What then will be the effect of this principle, when used in 
a narrow sense (see above, p. 156), and unchastised by con- 
siderations of propriety and religion ? 

There may be different shades of the narrow meaning. 
Still even in a confined sense it is perhaps " less mischievous 
than the extravagances of mere appetite, will, and pleasure." 

It has been justly observed, that a regard for our good on 
the whole, can neither give a noble elevation to the mind that 
possesses it, nor attract the esteem and love of others. " Our 
cordial love and esteem (continues Reid) is due only to the 
man whose soul is not contracted within itself, who loves 
virtue not for her dowry only, but for her own sake." " Dis- 
interested goodness and rectitude is the glory of the Divine 
nature, without which He might be an object of fear and hope, 
but not of true devotion. And it is the image of this Divine 
attribute in the human character that is the glory of man." 
Again, " A concern for our own good is not a principle that 
of itself gives any enjoyment. On the contrary, it is apt to 



186 THE HIGHER PARTS ^OF OUR NATURE 

be directly or indirectly recognised in Scripture. 
Those writers mainly point out objects to which 
the emotions are directed, the objects being such 
as seem to be recognised by the generality of 
mankind. But men not only love persons, and 
desire power, esteem, superiority, but they also 
love such principles as veracity, justice, bene- 
volence.* They begin by esteeming them ; and 
" Truth (says Eeid) has an affinity with the 
human understanding, which error hath not. 
And right principles of conduct have an affinity 
with a candid mind, which wrong have not. 
When they are set before it in a just light, a 
well-disposed mind recognises this affinity, feels 
their authority, and perceives them to be gen- 



fill the mind with fear and care and anxiety.'' But *' he 
who leaves the care of his happiness to Him who made him, 
while he pursues with ardour the road of his duty/' experi- 
ences *'an elevation of mind which is real happiness. Instead 
of care and fear and anxiety and disappointment/' he feels 
peace and joy. 

The sum is this : '* Although a regard to our good on the 
whole be a rational principle in man, yet if it be supposed 
the only regulating principle of our conduct, it would be a 
more uncertain rule, it would give far less perfection to the 
human character and far less happiness, than when joined 
with another rational principle, to wit, a regard to duty." 

St. Paul says, " Now abide faith, hope, and charity, these 
three ; but the greatest of these is charity." 

* See the Preface. 



DESIGNED TO GOVERN THE LOWER. 187 

uine." It thus proceeds to love them. The 
mere beauty, as it has been called, of Virtue 
excites agreeable feelings in the mind of him to 
whom it is presented;* just as the deformity of 
Vice is disagreeable: he hatesf it and shrinks 
from it. 

Accordingly, as Stewart tells us, "it is im- 
possible to behold a good action without being 
conscious of a benevolent affection, either of 
love or of respect towards the agent : and con- 
sequently, as all our benevolent affections include 
an agreeable feeling, every good action must be 
a source of pleasure to the spectator. Besides 
this, other agreeable feelings of order, of utility, 
of peace of mind, &c. come in process of time 
to be associated with the general idea of virtuous 
conduct." 

These moral emotions then are moving prin- 
ciples in our minds. The emotion just mentioned 
by Stewart, of love or respect, might, no doubt, 
prompt us to action. J 

* Magne pates Divum, ssevos punire tyrannos 

Haud alia ratione velis 

Virtutem videant, intabescantque relicta. Pers. hi. 

f To hate evil principles and actions seems indeed the pro- 
per application of the feeling of hatred. 

J Some years ago an enormous crime, that of murder in 
order to obtain bodies for dissection, was perpetrated in 



188 THE HIGHER PARTS. OF OUR NATURE 

So when we have stored up in our minds 
such maxims as have been heretofore considered, 
(see Book II. c. vi.) agreeable to truth, justice, 
and benevolence, we gradually proceed to love 
them. This love may frequently impel us to 
action. Though originally therefore they had 
no place in the mind, and some of them at least 
may be almost peculiar to ourselves, and accord- 
ingly they can hardly be called naturally instinc- 
tive ; still the love of them has become settled 
in our hearts, and such love may therefore now 
be considered to operate as an instinctive prin- 
ciple of action. 

But to whatever degree of nicety distinctions 
may be drawn, and classifications accomplished, 
an elaborate and minute analysis is not suitable 
to our general design ; and it is at all events 
undeniable that there are such things as instinc- 
tive moving principles. God however added 
higher faculties. Supreme in the human mind is 
the power by which man determines the con- 



cur metropolis : the populace were so indignant, that in their 
fury they hunted an unfortunate porter (who had ignorantly 
carried in a sack or box the body of one thus murdered) 
from street to street, until he was at length with difficulty 
rescued from their violence. Here probably w^as a moral 
emotion, a hatred of an evil principle, joined perhaps with 
defensive affection. There was at least a Wind impulse. 



DESIGNED TO GOVERN THE LOWER. 189 

duct proper to be pursued under any given cir- 
cumstances, — that power indeed by w^hich he 
duly appreciates moral evidence. Present such 
evidence to one of the inferior animals, and you 
do what, by the common voice of mankind, is 
pronounced no less absurd than if you ask the 
blind to judge of colours, or the deaf of sounds ; 
for a brute has no faculty whereby to estimate 
what is proposed. The power by which man 
is indeed elevated in the scale of creation, is 
termed the Conscience, the Moral Faculty, in 
Scripture the Light within us."* As far as the 
design of this treatise is concerned, it seems un- 
necessary to determine " whether, in the words 
of Butler, the moral faculty is" rightly " called 
conscience, moral reason, moral sense, or divine 
reason; whether considered as a perception of 
the understanding, or as a sentiment of the 
heart, or, which seems the truth, as including 
both."-|- According to Eeid, " Those who differ 
most in the theory of our moral powers, agree 
in the practical rules of morals wich they dictate. 
As a man may be a good judge of colours, and 
of the visible qualities of objects, without any 
knowledge of the anatomy of the eye and of the 
theory of vision; so a man may have a very 

* Matth. vi. 23. t See the Preface. 



190 THE HIGHER PART§ OF OUR NATURE 

clear and comprehensive knowledge of what is 
right and what is wrong in human conduct, who 
never studied the structure of our moral powers." 
At all events conscience, be its essence what it 
may, is the judge of moral truth. Whatever 
assistance it may derive from the other powers 
of man, or in what manner soever they may be 
included in the notion of the moral faculty, it 
is assuredly the province of this faculty to 
judge both of internal principles and of outward 
actions, and ultimately to determine conduct. 

The moral faculty, and the intellectual powers 
which so constitute it or assist it, or rather 
which are so included in it,* that on the whole 
the operations result and are displayed of a 
power authorized to govern, we may call the 
Higher Faculties of man. The instinctive 
moving principles which have heretofore been 
considered, may in contradistinction be termed 
the Lower Principles of our nature. 

Now before a man acts, his will must be 
moved to action. 

It has already virtually been affirmed, that 
the office of the higher faculties is to govern 
the will, and so to guide the man. 



* See Butler, as quoted in the last page. 



DESIGNED TO GOVERN THE LOAVER. 191 

But these lower principles, some of them pos- 
sessing and others strongly claiming an abode 
in our hearts, do frequently with more or less 
power act upon the will, sometimes singly, at 
others aiding and abetting, or modifying and 
controlling each other : and therefore they have 
in fact a tendency, stronger or weaker, to govern 
the will, and thus to guide the man. 

So that our inquirer's question. How to deal 
with them ] naturally includes reflections upon 
government, since there is or may be even a 
contest in regard to government. 

The consideration of this subject will furnish 
various illustrations tending to throw light upon 
the main design of our speculations, and to assist 
us in the appreciation of moral evidence. Again 
the conclusions to be obtained may, we trust, be 
themselves useful in regard to conduct and in 
supplying a fuller answer to the question. What 
am I to do as a man placed in the world ] More- 
over the consideration of the lower principles of 
our nature is peculiarly connected with the un- 
dertaking we have in hand ; for, unless controlled 
by systematic discipline, they tend to disturb and 
blind the moral faculty itself 

Our inquirer, before he had duly surveyed 
and estimated the powers and the claims of the 
lower principles, had in reality acknowledged 



192 THE HIGHER PARTS OF OUR NATURE 

the supreme authority of the higher faculties; 
but his attention being now directed to a closer 
examination of the former, it shall be my en- 
deavour to shew that the conclusions which he 
had at first obtained, are not to be shaken by the 
truths which he has subsequently been obliged 
to admit : the conscience is still to be supreme : 
the appetites, desires, and aifections are inferior 
in nature and in kind : and it is manifestly the 
law of the Creator that they should be regulated 
and controlled by the higher faculties. 

For, in the first place, though there may be 
difficulties in instituting comparisons, still it is 
pretty clear that the higher faculties possess a 
worth, and challenge an admiration which the 
lower principles do not. In regard to appetite 
and afiection, the example of the brutes may 
assist us in appreciating the eifect of such im- 
pulses when unrestrained or unmitigated by 
higher faculties. In the lower animals indeed 
they accomplish good and wise purposes, and in 
men their operation when duly regulated is good. 
Nevertheless it is the truth that they urge both 
brutes and men who act like brutes, headlong to 
their object, reckless of consequences, and intent 
only on gratifying the predominant, and it may 
be momentary stimulus. Thus power is crippled. 



DESIGNED TO GOVERN THE LOWER. 193 

energies are wasted ; good is despised, evil loved ; 
right trampled, wrong embraced.* 

But turning our attention to the higher facul- 
ties, we find that the intellectual powers are not 
confined as those of the body to a narrow space, 
a point of time, and objects close at hand ; on the 
contrary, they expatiate at pleasure in the con- 
templation of matters connected with every coun- 
try in the globe, nay more, discover the paths of 
the planets, and, by inference, acknowledge the 
immeasurable distance of the fixed stars. By the 
powers of our minds are understood the sciences 
of arithmetic and geometry, the conditions of equi- 
librium, and the motions of bodies ; the law^s of 
light ; the knowledge of plants, and insects, and 
birds, andbeasts,andfishes; the delicate mechanism 
of the human body; the nature of diseases and their 
remedies ; the chemical relations of substances ; 
the principles of political science and legislation ; 
moral philosophy, and the abstruse speculations 
of metaphysics. Again, particular inventions, of 
which the effects upon human society are incal- 
culable, have originated of course in the intellect 
of man. Among these the arts of ship-building, 
of printing, of making gunpowder, of applying 
steam, are eminently conspicuous. Moreover our 

* See Rom. i. 32, " have pleasure in them that do them." 

o 



194 THE HIGHER PAK,TS OF OUR NATURE 

mental powers enable us to grasp the records of 
past ages, and to glean wisdom from the errors 
and follies as well as the learning and virtue of 
our forerunners in the race of life. Accordingly 
Homer, Plato, Cicero, Juvenal, Bacon, Newton, 
Shakspeare, Milton, whom we have neither 
seen nor ever had the power of seeing, instruct 
our minds. They " being dead yet speak." 

In all circumstances however in which we are 
concerned to act, the study of intellectual truth 
supplies facts and circumstances preparatory to 
such action. The moral faculty judges of the 
sufficiency of the evidence by which the facts 
and circumstances are supported, and so proceeds 
to determine conduct. As far as our limited 
powers will allow, we contemplate not only the 
past and the present, but also the future. Thus 
the magnitude, the duration, the probability of 
attainment of such things as are proposed for our 
choice being shewn to our minds, the moral 
faculty bids us select the right and good, reject 
the wrong and evil. 

But, more than this, the moral faculty even 
checks and chastises powers which are merely 
intellectual. It corrects the roving imagination, 
expels improper thoughts, and debars us from 
knowledge which we cannot modestly obtain. 
It condemns frivolous, much more wicked appli- 



DESIGNED TO GOVERN THE LOWER. 195 

cations of the intellect: and though *' the devils 
believe and tremble," yet notwithstanding their 
intellect, being destitute of this moral faculty or 
not applying it, they continue still the same. 

Thus on the vrhole the moral faculty uses and 
yet restrains the intellectual powers. If the latter 
are admirable, what is the former 1 

But it seems unnecessary to proceed in point- 
ing out distinctions. The intellectual and moral 
powers are at least so intimately connected, that 
it may seem almost harsh to consider them as 
separate. In fact, though you may contemplate 
the intellectual powers abstractedly from the 
moral,* one does not see how it is possible to 
contemplate the operations of the moral faculty 
abstractedly from those of the intellect ; without 
which it seems powerless. •[• Suffice it therefore 
to remark, that by these higher faculties man 
being convinced of the existence and attributes 
of the Deity, is invited as a petitioner to com- 
municate his wants, and prays in spirit to the 
invisible Spirit, Who has promised to hear the 
prayers of those who ask in His Son's Name. 

* Thus for instance we see that things have been, are, will 
be, without any necessary reference to propriety of conduct. 
See Book i. Chap. 2. 

I The knowledge of what is proper to be done implies the 
knowledge that certain things have been, are, or will be, 

o2 



196 THE HIGHER PAJRTS OF OUR NATURE 

Again, he lauds and magnifies the great Creator 
of those things whereof science teaches him the 
knowledge ; and this too not only " with his lips 
but in his life," Le, in his actions. For rejecting 
the evil and choosing the good, he continually 
carries out the designs, and so acts to the glory 
of God. As he is intellectual and moral, he 
approaches even to the Kkeness of God. " So 
God created man in His own image, in the 
image of God created He him.":j: Now though 
man has fallen, and even if restored must still be 
infinitely inferior to his Maker ; it ought never- 
theless to be the study of our lives to improve 
this resemblance. The more nearly we approach 
to the pattern, the more near are we to the 
attainment of that perfection of human nature 
which is the object of our efforts. As we are 
enlightened and purified, ^. e. as the intellectual 
and moral powers are improved, as we continually 
imbue our minds with eternal principles of truth, 
justice, gratitude, benevolence, wisdom, know- 
ledge, this likeness is increased and established. 
Finally, " when He shall appear we shall be like 

J Gen. i. 27. See South's sermon on this subject : " In 
other creatures we have but the trace of God's footstep, in 
man the draught of ffis hand. . . . We might well imagine that 
the great Artificer would be more than ordinarily exact in 
drawing His own picture.'* 



DESIGNED TO GOVERN THE LOWER. 197 

Him : for we shall see Him as He is. And every 
man that hath this hope in him, purifieth him- 
self, even as He is pure."* 

The argument by which Butler shews the 
superiority in nature and in kind of the higher 
faculties is briefly this : You may act agreeably 
to the whole nature of man, even if in opposition 
to any of the lower principles ; but you cannot 
act thus agreeably to your nature, if in opposition 
to the conscience. f 

On the whole, then, philosophers have been 
accustomed to consider the intellectual and 
moral powers, in opposition to instinctive moving 
principles, as essentially the worthier and nobler 
parts of men: J the definition given above was 

* 1 John iii. 2, 3. 

I It is of course understood that in exalting the intellectual 
and moral powers of man, we forget not his perpetual need 
of spiritual assistance ; for " it is God that worketh in us 
both to will and to do of His good pleasure." Phil. ii. 13. 
(See below Book iv. Chap. 4.) God has given us many- 
gifts, of which the crown and consummation is that of 
the Spirit. In contemplating man as a sensitive, intellectual 
moral, and religious being, it is perhaps worthy of remark, 
that his intellectual powers require the assistance of the senses, 
his moral that of the intellect, while religion offers itself to 
him as sensitive, intellectual, and moral, and presupposes these 
qualifications. We seem thus gradually to ascend in our con- 
siderations from the characteristic traits of brutes to the sanc- 
tifying operations of the Spirit. 

J It is easy to conceive that one principle may possess 



198 THE HIGHER PAKTS OF OUR NATURE 

no arbitrary one; and the former are with pro- 
priety termed the higher faculties, the latter the 
lower principles of our nature. 

Now it is manifestly agreeable to God's will 
that the higher faculties should regulate and 
govern the lower propensities ; for it is fit and 
proper they should, and they are worthy thus to 
rule.* We naturally acknowledge certain prin- 
ciples of moral rectitude, and hence we infer that 
God who thus framed us does Himself recognise 
the same. Again, His attributes are distinctly 
asserted in Scripture; and though, in this im- 
perfect state of being, obstacles may intervene to 
prevent what is right from being fully carried 
out, still His character remains immutably the 
same. Whatever is just and right then, that He 
approves. Now it is just that the worthier should 
preside over and govern what is less worthy. 



a native dignity greater than that of another, though both 
be stamped with the seal of the Deity ; just as one animal may 
be naturally superior to another : " Are not ye much better 
than they ?" (Matth. vi. 26). In all cases this higher dignity 
claims our higher admiration ; and such admiration, when 
genuine and sincere, is a proof of the dignity. 

* " What more proper entertainments can our mind have 
than to be purifying and beautifying itself, to be keeping itself 
and its subordinate faculties in order, to be attending upon 
the management of thoughts, of passions, of words, of actions 
depending upon its governance ?" — -Barrow's Sermons. 



DESIGNED TO GOVERN THE LOWER. 199 

Accordingly our observation of the whole 
economy of nature, i. e. of the arrangements of 
the Deity who has appointed this economy, 
teaches us that, in general, what is essentially 
higher does predominate over, control, and direct 
that which is lower. Thus mental power prevails 
over and governs mere bodily strength. In the 
scale of human society the wise and learned rise, 
the ignorant and illiterate sink. One man by his 
talents sways even multitudes of his fellow-men : 

Ac veluti magno ia populo cum saepe coorta est 
Seditio, ssevitque animis ignobile vulgus. 
Jamque faces et saxa volant : furor arma ministrat. 
Turn pietate gravem ac meritis si forte virum quern 
Conspexere, silent arrectisque auribus astant. 
lUe regit ^ictis aiiimos, et pectora mulcet. 

tEn. I. 152. 

Much more then do men exercise power over the 
lower creatures. We protect ourselves against 
their ferocity and strength. We tame them, 
and apply their powers. We make elephants 
and horses carry us ; dogs scent out and pursue 
our game ; leeches draw our blood. But espe- 
cially where closer degrees of juxta-position and 
union are estabhshed, is this principle {i. e. of 
what is naturally higher presiding over and ruling 
what is lower) more clearly and conspicuously 
developed. This indeed is what we should ex- 
pect, for proximity and union require, and indeed 



200 THE HIGHER PART« OF OUR NATURE 

imply government; and which is to govern, if 
not the worthier and fitter 1 Take as an example 
the close and intimate union which subsists be- 
tween members of the same family. The intel- 
ligence of children is not yet fully developed; 
their experience is very limited, and they are 
sometimes perverse and stubborn. In order 
that the proceedings of the family may be car- 
ried on harmoniously and reasonably, it is or- 
dained that there should be both a duty of 
government and of obedience. " Bring up your 
children in the nurture and admonition of the 
Lord."* " Children, obey pour parents."f This 
is altogether suitable to the circumstances of the 
case; for the parents are naturally* wiser and 
superior. But, to pursue our argument, what 
can be more close and intimate than the juxta- 
position and connexion between the higher fa- 
culties and the lower propensities in one and the 
same man] In acting he must act in subjection 
to the higher or the lower part of his nature, or 
it may be to both. But if these two conflict 
(and experience shews us that contests will and 
must arise), is it not clear to which the Creator 
designed him to pay allegiance, by rendering one 
intrinsically superior to the other? 

^ Eph. vi. 4. t Coloss. iii. 20. 



DESIGNED TO GOVERN THE LOWER. 201 

But farther, say that men do degrade them- 
selves and blindly indulge their instinctive pro- 
pensities ; does not experience shew what even 
in this world is usually the issue ] See how im- 
moderate indulgence of the appetites, gluttony, 
drunkenness, unchastity, lead to broken health 
and premature decay. How envy, revenge, malice, 
even excessive anger, to the infliction of pain, 
bloodshed, and murder. Thus men harass and 
torment men; retaliation perpetuates injuries; 
the bonds of social harmony are broken ; the 
power and happiness of whole classes and nations 
are impaired or destroyed. Our own private ex- 
perience of these truths is confirmed by the 
records of history. Look especially to the state 
of France during the Reign of Terror. Read 
again the accounts of Athenian and Lacedae- 
monian cruelty, as given by Thucydides at the 
time of the Peloponnesian war. And not only 
does this unbridled dominion of passion diminish 
or destroy the comforts and enjoyments of men, 
and inflict upon them pain and misery; but it 
also (as will hereafter more fully appear) de- 
grades and vitiates their minds; so that the 
higher faculties themselves become impaired in 
consequence of their voluntary subjection. This 
is entirely consistent with the common course 
and constitution of nature, and agreeable to the 



202 THE HIGHER PARTS OF OUR NATURE 

dispensation under which we live. For if we do 
not duly use, or if we misuse the good things 
given to us, we may often perceive that their 
virtue and efficacy are diminished or destroyed. 
In the parable of the Talents* we see this prin- 
ciple implied throughout, and finally asserted 
in direct terms, " Unto every one that hath shall 
be given, and he shall have abundance: but 
from him that hath not shall be taken away even 
that which he hath.'* 

The mind then being thus prostrated, a disso- 
lute and profligate, or a savage and revengeful 
spirit becomes characteristic of society. Children 
are trained in wrong notions from their earliest 
infancy ; and so the evil becomes prolonged and 
perpetuated. 

Thus then on the one hand bad effects arise 
from the predominance of the lower propensities. 
On the other hand it is manifest, that good con- 
sequences follow their operation when duly re- 
gulated : they assist our weakness ; relieve us 
from langour and inertness ; recal from what is 
wrong ; stimulate in the path of duty. The 
appetites too serve important purposes connected 
with the preservation and continuation of the 
human race. In the words of Butler, "men have 

* Matth. xxvi. 



DESIGNED TO GOVERN THE LOWER. 203 

various appetites, passions, and particular affec- 
tions, quite distinct both from self-love and from 
benevolence: all these have a tendency to pro- 
mote both public and private good Some of 

them seem most immediately to respect others or 
tend to public good, others of them most imme- 
diately to respect self or tend to private good 

They are instances of our Maker's care and love 
both of the individual and the species, and proofs 
that He intended we should be instruments of 
good to each other, as well as that we should be 
so to ourselves."* Accordingly these tendencies 
of the instinctive moving principles, bad when 
uncontrolled, good when moderated, may be 
taken as another proof that a benevolent Creator 
intended the higher parts of our nature to preside 
over the lower. 

But the truth of the proposition appears also 
from Revelation. The whole spirit of Scripture 
shews it. The things enjoined cannot be ac- 



* If a person eats, we may conceive him to obey the in- 
stinctive stimulus of hunger, to recognise the principle of 
self-love in doing what preserves his life, to act to the honour 
of God who intended that men should be sustained by food. 
(See 1 Cor. x. 31.) If a man designedly promotes the ad- 
vantage of his neighbour, he may be moved by the instinctive 
principle desire of esteem, by mere benevolence, by a sense of 
religion and duty. 



204 THE HIGHER PART-S OF OUR NATURE 

complished without this discipline and govern- 
ment. If I am to give alms as a cheerful giver* 
to my poor neighbour, I cannot do it if under 
the dominion of covetousness. If I am to be 
patient and resigned under all the dispensations 
of Providence, to take up my cross, and follow 
Christ whithersoever He leads me ; a mind pam- 
pered by indulgence and luxurious ease, by a 
habit of facile concession to the appetites and 
affections, will be but ill trained for such sacrifice 
and self-denial. Again, if I am to cherish and 
cultivate a general benevolence to all men, how 
can I permit envy, malice, revenge, altogether 
inconsistent with such good-will, to dwell in my 
heart '? Not only by implication however does 
Scripture teach us the duty of controlling the 
lower propensities, but there are also direct 
injunctions on the subject: "Dearly beloved, 
(says St. Paul) avenge not yourselves, but rather 
give place unto wrath .•"-j' " The works of the 
flesh are manifest, which are tliese : adultery, 
fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, 
witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, 
strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, 
drunkenness, revellings, and such like : of the 



* " God lovetli a cheerful giver." 2 Cor. ix. 7. 
f Rom xii. 19. 



DESIGNED TO GOVERN THE LOWER. 205 

which T tell you before, as I have also told 
you in time past, that they which do such 
things shall not inherit the kingdom of God."* 
"No covetous man, who is an idolater, hath 
any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and 
of God."-|- "These six things doth the Lord 
hate ; yea seven are an abomination unto Him : 
di proud look," Scc,% " Every one that is proud in 
heart is an abomination unto the Lord."|| 

Such is a very small portion indeed of the 
confirmation afforded by Scripture.§ 

On the whole then, from considerations of the 
original principle, viz. the essential superiority 
of the higher faculties to the lower propensities ; 
from the evil effects that follow a blind indul- 
gence of the latter, and the good arising from 
their agency when duly regulated and governed ; 

* Gal. V. 19-21. t Epli- v. 5. 

X Prov. vi. 16, 17. || Prov. xvi. 5. 

§ Persons are at times apt to allege, that some particular 
instinctive principle is so strong within them that they cannot 
control it. But the questions arise : Is it so ? Are they not 
deceiving themselves ? Have they earnestly prayed for the 
assistance of Divine grace? (see below, Book iv. chap. 4.) 
Have they been sincere, zealous, watchful, persevering in 
their endeavours ? Have they tried to obtain a habit of 
resistance? If God intended us to adopt certain principles 
of conduct, there can be no doubt that power to carry them 
out, in such manner as may be acceptable in His sight, 
either exists, or by diligence may be attained. 



206 THE HIGHER PARTS OF OUR NATURE 

and also from the general tenor and tendency, 
as well as the express injunctions of Scripture, 
we are justified in concluding that the Lawgiver, 
a God of order, justice, goodness, intended the 
higher* to preside over the lower parts of our 
nature. 

* Butler says : " There is a superior principle of reflection 
or conscience in every man, which distinguishes between the 
internal principles of his heart as well as his external actions: 
which passes judgment upon himself and them : pronounces 
determinately some actions to be in themselves just, right, 
good ; others to be in themselves evil, wrong, unjust : which, 
without being consulted, without being advised with, magis- 
terially exerts itself, and approves or condemns him the doer 
of them accordingly." Again : " the principle of reflection or 
conscience being compared with the various appetites, passions, 
and affections in men, the former is manifestly superior and 
chief, without regard to strength. And how often soever 
the latter happen to prevail, it is mere usurpation." Also, 
"you cannot form a notion of this faculty, conscience, with- 
out taking in judgment, direction, superintendency. This is 
a constituent part of the idea, that is of the faculty itself: 
and to preside and govern, from the very economy and con- 
stitution of man, belongs to it. Had it strength as it had 
right, had it power as it had manifest authority, it would 
absolutely govern the world." 

So "conscience carries its own authority with it, that it 
is our natural guide, the guide assigned us by the Author 
of our nature." 

We have before seen what he says in regard to self-love, 
(note p. 184). Applying the same argument to assert the 
superiority of conscience, and uniting them together, " Reason- 
able self-love (he observes) and conscience are the chief or 



DESIGNED TO GOVERN THE LOWER. 207 

superior principles in the nature of man : because an action 
may be suitable to this nature, though all other principles 
be violated, but becomes unsuitable if either of those are." 
Throughout this treatise our inquirer, it will be recollected, 
having shaken off the tyranny of passion, has been engaged 
in considerations of his happiness and his duty. 

Smith, as quoted by Stewart, observes : '•' The moral faculties 
carry with them the most evident badges of their own author- 
ity, which denote that they were set up within us to be the 
supreme arbiters of all our actions; to superintend all our 
senses, passions, and appetites ; and to judge how far each 
of them was to be either indulged or restrained. Our moral 
faculties are by no means, as some have pretended, upon a 
level in this respect with the other faculties and appetites 
of our nature, endowed with no more right to restrain these 
last, than these last are to restrain them. No other faculty 
or principle of action judges of any other. Love does not 
judge of resentment, nor resentment of love." As from our 
observation of the powers of the eye and the ear we infer 
that they were intended to see and to hear, so we conclude 
that the conscience which judges was intended to judge. 

Reid even explicitly declares, " The authority of con- 
science over the other active principles of the mind, I do not 
consider as a point that requires proof by argument, but 
as self-evident." At all events we may consider that such 
authority is now fully acknowledged by our inquirer. 



( 208 



CHAPTEE II. 



ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE MANNER OF DEALING WITH 
THE INSTINCTIVE MOVING PRINCIPLES. CERTAIN 
TRAITS IN THEIR CHARACTER AND HABITS. 

In the Gospel of St. Matthew we read of a 
centurion, a man under authority, who having 
soldiers subject to him, was accustomed to say 
to this man. Go, and he went ; and to another, 
Come, and he came ; and to his servant. Do this, 
and he did it. The centurion therefore, com- 
prehending the nature of government, and know- 
ing what miracles had been performed by Christ, 
inferred that a power of government was in His 
hands ; and that if He but spoke the word, his 
servant should be healed.* Accordingly, it is 
sometimes asked by those who like the centurion 
ascend to a consideration of the principles of 
government, How can any one command others 
who is not able to rule himself? On the other 
hand, if a man is able to rule others, it is pretty 

* Matth. viii. 5, et seq. 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 209 

clear that he possesses an aptitude for govern- 
ment, and it may be well hoped that he has the 
power of governing himself. 

The mental condition then of our inquirer, 
and his views with regard to the discipline of 
the instinctive moving principles, may I think 
be illustrated by reflections upon the position of 
the master of a large household ; who, taking 
a review of the state thereof, purposes not indeed 
to break up his establishment, and dismiss his 
servants ; but to make changes in his arrange- 
ments, and to obtain an improved tone in the 
character of his family. 

With these ideas therefore he will proceed 
to examine the general conduct and the claims 
of a number of old servants, as well as the cha- 
racter and pretensions of various candidates for 
admission into his service ; and judging with 
just authority and superior power, will deter- 
mine what course of conduct is to be pursued. 

No doubt, our householder has certain main 
objects to accomplish ; to which, in the con- 
sideration of details, his mind has a constant 
reference ; and he judges how far it is likely that 
his purposes will be carried out by the capacity 
and zeal of each individual servant. If he has 
already any old retainer of a perverse and malevo- 
lent disposition, he may perhaps dismiss him ; and 



210 INSTINCTIVE MOVING PRINCIPLES. 

will certainly not receive any new candidate 
whose character is wholly opposed to the pro- 
motion of his own chief designs. It will be a 
matter of importance too to determine how much 
power shall be entrusted to every one, and of 
what nature shall be the responsibility ; whether 
some shall be subordinate to others, and if so, 
to what degree. 

The main objects then of our inquirer being 
such as have been previously represented, if the 
instinctive moving principles are to be considered 
as servants, they can only be so esteemed as they 
further these objects. If they neither promote 
nor hinder them, they are justly liable to be 
ejected as unprofitable, occupying time and place 
to no purpose. If they actually hinder them, 
they are of course still more resolutely to be 
expelled.* They are then but as fraudulent 



* It may perhaps be objected to this idea of expulsion, 
If God has implanted instinctive moving principles, why 
should man eject them? But we are considering the case 
of one whose mind has been undisciplined, who may have 
indulged affections or desires fixed on improper objects, who 
is now sensible of his errors, and is applying a remedy. 

In general, though God has made men susceptible of 
affection and desire, still they may fix their love on wrong 
objects. From such perverted love they ought of course 
to free themselves, though love rightly directed be right. 
The scriptural idea is that of crucifying bad feelings. " They 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 211 

enemies, seeking an abode in the heart of him 
whom they mean ultimately to injure or destroy. 
But in regard to the lower propensities that 
may with propriety be allowed, and of which 
the general character and tendency are approved, 
there is still necessity for the most serious con- 
sideration. The manner in which they are to 
be permitted to move, the intensity and the time* 
of their operation, their relation of subjection or 
superiority to each other, are all questions of 
high importance. In short, since it behoves our 
inquirer to govern,! i.e. to check, to make the 

that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections 
and lusts." (Gal. v. 24.) 

St. James warns us, " Let no man say, when he is tempted, 

I am tempted of God But every man is tempted, when 

he is drawn away of Ms own lust and enticed." 

* If revenge follows just resentment, the revenge is never- 
theless sinfuL "Be ye angry and sin not : let not the sun 
go down upon your wrath." (Eph. iv. 26.) If a malevolent 
feeling is treasured up, it assumes a new character and is 
called by a different name : 

EiTTfjO yap Tt -)(6Xov ye koI avrfjjjiap Kara7re\prjf 
'AXXa ye Kal {jLeTOTTiadev exei kotov. — Horn. II. A. 

f Butler, after the example of ancient philosophers, illus- 
trates his idea of self-government by that of civil government : 
" Every bias, instinct, propension within, is a natural part 
of our nature, but not the whole : add to these the superior 
faculty whose office it is to adjust, manage, and preside over 
them'; and take in this, its natural superiority, and you com- 
plete the idea of human nature. And as in civil government 

P2 



212 INSTINCTIVE MOVING PRINCIPLES. 

best use of his servants, to arbitrate between 
them, to take care that the power of one does 
not encroach upon what justly belongs to 
another; since indeed he has to act, he must, 
as a natural preliminary to action, judge. 

Nevertheless the science of government in 
general involves great difficulties; and experi- 
ence of the phenomena of our own minds, and 
observation of the conduct of other men, seem 
to shew that the discipline of the affections and 
desires is a task which requires especial atten- 
tion. If by entering a little more into detail 
we can assist those who are engaged in the con- 
sideration of this duty, we shall be instrumental 
in promoting the accomplishment of a great 
object. " Better is he that ruleth his spirit 
than he that taketh a city."* Let us endeavour 
therefore more fully to explain our views, in 
regard to the manner of dealing with the lower 
propensities, by exhibiting some particular ex- 
amples. 



tbe constitution is broken in upon and violated by power 
and strength prevailing over authority; so the constitution 
of man is broken in upon and violated by the lower faculties 
or principles within prevailing over that, which is in its nature 
supreme over them all." Again, " men rehelliously refuse to 
submit to conscience." 

* Prov. xvi. 32. 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 213 

Take for instance one of the best and highest 
affections of our nature, the love of kindred, that 
of parents (suppose) for children, or children for 
parents. These feelings we acknowledge to be 
suitable to the relation of those who cherish 
them ; we admire the moral beauty they exhibit, 
and admit that if persons bring children into the 
world, it behoves them to assist their offspring in 
a voyage on which they have caused them to 
embark. On the other hand, it is fit that the 
children should feel due gratitude for what they 
have received from their greatest earthly bene- 
factors. If it be good to live ; to enjoy many 
temporal comforts and blessings; to have pro- 
posed to us the favour of God, the means of 
grace, and the hopes of immortality ; our fathers 
and mothers are the channels by which these 
benefits have been conveyed. Even heathen 
nations recognised the propriety of rendering 
to parents the r/^o^eta, to which they were so 
justly entitled. These feelings too tend to good. 
Helpless infancy and headstrong youth need the 
fostering care and watchful control of parental 
affection. Imbecile age requires the attention of 
those who may minister to its wants with grati- 
tude and love. We recognise then these natural 
emotions of the human heart, and consider also 
that their operation, when duly consecrated to the 



214 INSTINCTIVE MOVING PRINCIPLES. 

honour of God, will be acceptable in His sight ; 
"Who even now makes them sources of true de- 
light to those whom they influence. Still we may 
recollect that the instinct of maternal affection is 
a stimulus strongly developed even in the brutes. 
Though these feelings then be cherished and cul- 
tivated in the human heart, they are neverthe- 
less to be regulated in subordination to elevated 
and ennobling principles, by which man is pecu- 
liarly distinguished. We all remember the story 
of Brutus in his capacity as magistrate condemn- 
ing his own sons to death: "Consules in sedem pro- 
cessere suam ; missique lictores ad sumendum sup- 
plicium, nudatos virgis caedunt, securique feriunt : 
quum inter omne tempus pater, vultusque et os 
ejus spectaculo esset, eminente animo patrio inter 
publicee poense ministerium."* Here we have a 
graphic representation of the conflict of principles 
and of a species of martyrdom.-j- But if on the 
contrary parental or filial affection induces me 
to set up an idol in my heart to the exclusion 
of Him who ought there to reign supreme; if 
it leads me to commit some great crime, a murder 
or robbery, or even to violate any known prin- 
ciple of justice between man and man; my con- 
duct is indefensible, and cannot please God, who 

* Livy, II. c. 5. f See above, note p. 140. 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 215 

has a right to demand that we should act not 
merely according to a part, but agreeably to the 
whole of the nature with which we are endowed 
and the powers given to us,* making those por- 
tions subordinate and those predominant which 
were designed to submit and to prevail. 

Consider again the emotion of hope. Though 
the attainment of specific good objects be not 
always morally certain or even probable, yet it 
may be perfectly right that we should aim at 
them ; and though we may not, still possibly we 
may attain them. Now hope is a stimulus to 
action, urging on in the path marked out as that 
of duty, at times perhaps encouraging our wearied 
spirits, animating us to perseverance and renewed 
efforts, and tending finally to place us in the 
haven where we would be. Let this feeling 
however be chastised and disciplined. First let 
its intensity be proportioned to the value of the 
things to be attained. Is the worth of any tem- 
poral advantage to be compared with that of the 
favour of God, and of the prospects of future hap- 
piness ] But again, the good of temporal enjoy- 



* I say '* the powers given to us/' for though .there be 
a weakness of nature, yet is there a supply of grace. Hence 
power is given or may be attained by prayer. See below, 
Book IV. c. 4. 



216 INSTINCTIVE MOVING PRINCIPLES. 

ments admits an infinite variety of degrees. Who 
ever estimates the accommodations of his night's 
lodging at an inn in the same balance as the 
more permanent comforts of his regular dwell- 
ing-house'? Who will sell his birthright for a 
mess of pottage'?* Moreover, let our hope be 
mitigated by the reflection that, after all, possi- 
bihty or even probability of possession is different 
from certainty : it is but reasonable that the mind 
be prepared for failure no less than success. Again, 
as Jeremy Taylor tells us, "a stammerer cannot 
with moderation hope for the gift of tongues ; or 
a peasant to become learned as Origen; or if 
a beggar desires or hopes to become a king, or 
asks for a thousand pounds a-year, we call him 
impudent, not passionate, much less reasonable." 
And " let the husbandman (he adds) hope for 
a good harvest, not for a rich kingdom, or a vic- 
torious army." So that our hopes should be 
suitable to our state and condition, and not 
directed to objects which we have no prospect 
of attaining. " A hope that is easy and credulous 
is an arm of flesh, an ill supporter without a 



* We have seen, too, above (p. 134) that we know not 
absolutely what is most profitable for us, power or weakness, 
riches or poverty, honour or dishonour, health or sickness, 
life or death : this is a consideration by which to moderate 
hope. 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 217 

bone."* (See Taylor again.) Experience, too, 
proves what our sense of retributive justice com- 
pels us to acknowledge as in no way harsh, in 
regard to hopes essentially unreasonable or im- 
moderately cherished. Under ordinary circum- 
stances and according to the common course of 
nature (i. e. the law of the God of nature), they 
lead to a painful reaction and distress of mind, 
and thus, in the main, bring with them their own 
not undeserved punishment. 

Let us take another example. A natural feel- 
ing of the human heart is the love of approbation, 
and closely allied to it is the fear of censure. 
Now these emotions are often instruments of 
great good. Under their influence many actions 
highly beneficial both to individuals and to society 
are performed, and what would or might be out- 
rageous ebullitions of wickedness are checked and 
restrained. Moreover, character and reputation 
are in themselves very valuable, inasmuch as 
they confer upon their possessor a moral influ- 
ence and power, which, under the Divine bless- 
ing, he may well direct to the accomplishment of 



* It is of course evident that hopes which contemplate 
a sinful end, or the use of wicked means, are altogether to 
be excluded. " He that hopes for an opportunity (says Jeremy 
Taylor) of acting his revenge, or lust, or rapine, watches to 
do himself a mischief." 



218 INSTINCTIVE MOVING PRINCIPLES. 

holy purposes and to the promotion of the honour 
and glory of God. Accordingly, " Provide things 
honest in the sight of all men"* is the injunction 
of Scripture. It is clear, therefore, that we are 
to make it our endeavour, not only that our pro- 
ceedings be essentially right, but also that (where 
no higher principle intervenes) they may bear an 
appearance in the sight of the world to which 
they are fairly entitled. 

Indeed this appearance makes them amiable 
in the eyes of our fellow-creatures, and so leads 
other men to imitation ; and example set forth in 
a pleasing and graceful form is a powerful instru- 
ment of moral discipline. Why should virtue be 
deprived of that which belongs to her and tends 
to the promotion of her interests 1 Why should 
I, by morose carelessness, omit to make the most 
of the good deed I meditate 1 How is it consistent 
with the sentiments of benevolence to men which 
I ought to cherish, not to endeavour to lead them 
to good ] If I am to be intent upon promoting 
the honour of God, how does it agree with such 
intention, not to let the principle work to its 
utmost, and spread its salutary effects, as far 
as my name or influence may extend] Accord- 
ingly, " Let your light so shine before men, that 

* Kom. xii. 17 ; see also 2 Cor. viii. 21. 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 219 

they may see your good works and glorify your 
Father which is in heaven/'* 

But this love of approbation and fear of cen- 
sure, unless strictly watched and disciplined, may 
tend to great evil. Through them we may be 
tempted to vain self-conceit and pride ; induced 
to set our hearts upon our own honour and glory, 
and to exalt ourselves as independent and irre- 
sponsible. Still, from the fear of temptation we 
are not to neglect the duty enjoined by Christ. 

In regard to these difficulties, we may derive 
some instruction from the consideration of what 
St. Paul writes to the Corinthians ; " With me 
it is a very small thing that I should be judged 
of you, or of man's judgment; yea, I judge not 
mine ownself ; for I know nothing by myself; 
yet am I not hereby justified ; but He that 
judge th me is the Lord."* Herein then are 
implied three tribunals, that of men, of his own 
conscience, of God. These rise in authority one 
above the other. The conscience is higher than 
the tribunal of men, God is greater than the con- 
science. In regard to men, their most weighty 
judgments are those given by authority. But my 
conscience may truly testify, that even authorita- 
tive decisions, much more flippant and immodest 

* Matth. V. 16. t 1 Cor. iv. 3, 4. 



220 INSTINCTIVE MOVING PRINCIPLES. 

judgments pronounced upon me by my fellow- 
creatures are erroneous. 

When however I receive, either from authority 
or otherwise, approbation or censure, a proper 
course for me as a man to take, seems to be this, 
viz. seriously and diligently to examine myself. 
The circumstance that has occurred is a call to 
such a survey. For, on the one hand the par- 
tiality of friends may be deceitful ; on the other 
the energy of enemies having taught them, may 
by their means teach me, truth. My own con- 
science however has necessarily fuller evidence 
on which to judge, than others can have, inas- 
much as it is more intimately acquainted with 
all the circumstances of the case, with the ob- 
jects proposed, and the feelings which influ- 
enced. The question then arises : Does my con- 
science acknowledge the judgment that has been 
pronounced, as just, or reject it as unjust '?* In 
the case of approbation : if it is just, since my 
conduct ought to have been designed for the 
promotion of God's honour, to whose service I 
was consecrated at baptism, and to whom every 

* Even a heathen writer could recognise such a sentiment 
as the following : 

Falsus honor juvat, et mendax infamia terret 
Quern nisi mendosum et mendacem ? 

HoR. Epist. I. 16, 39. 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 221 

action of my life is to be dedicated (see above, 
p. 64), then ought the approbation now rendered 
to be considered as honour due to Him : accord- 
ingly I must take especial heed lest I be tempt- 
ed to appropriate to myself what belongs to 
God. But if the approbation is undeserved, 
then ought I to renounce it altogether. God is 
true, and will not accept a lie. But say that I 
am censured, and my conscience, however un wil- 
ing, is compelled to admit the justice of this 
censure : here is a call to humble myself before 
God, to deplore my fault, to resolve upon amend- 
ment, and to pray for Divine assistance, that I 
may persevere in such resolution. If however 
I am censured unjustly, I must of course reject 
the censure: though my natural feelings be 
pained, still may I consider that this is but a 
portion of the trouble to which man is sub- 
jected by the permission or decree of the All- wise 
Creator. Such troubles at all events tend to 
wean us from our too great fondness of a world 
in which we are but sojourners and pilgrims. 

To revert to St. Paul's expressions. The tri- 
bunal of God is of course higher than that of our 
own conscience. For He assuredly knows every 
thing : whereas our capacities are limited ; we 
may not have perceived or duly understood all 
the circumstances of a given case, or may have 



222 INSTINCTIVE MOVING PRINCIPLES. 

forgotten them. Again, we may be biassed by 
prejudice or passion : but He is essentially just. 
Add to these things that God is our natural 
Superior and rightful Lord ; we are not our own, 
but bought with a price. 

It may be added that these natural feelings of 
the hearts of men, ^. e. love of approbation and 
fear of censure, which they may receive from 
their fellow-creatures, do at all events operate to 
give scope and exercise to a sense of responsi- 
bility in general ; do induce a habit of searching 
for and appreciating answers ; of admitting the 
sound, and rejecting the weak. Accordingly, 
moral culture is thus naturally promoted, and 
the mind is prepared for the proper consideration 
of those higher tribunals implied in the words of 
St. Paul, to which we are ultimately responsible. 

Let us consider again the feeling of pride. A 
true and just estimate of his own position, pre- 
tensions, claims, opportunities, abilities, should 
be made by every man : otherwise how can he 
act suitably to the circumstances in which he is 
placed"? how duly direct his energies to the at- 
tainment of good, his talents to the fulfilment 
of the purposes for which they were given, 
unless he first rightly appreciate their power? 
But there is a feeling of the heart, viz. pride, 
under the influence of which we are led to take an 



ILLUSTRATIONS, 223 

unfair view, an exaggerated estimate of our own 
situation, claims, and strength ; " to think of 
ourselves more highly than we ought to think."* 
Let us now see what are the dictates of reason 
and conscience on this matter. In the first place, 
this partial and exaggerated notion is inconsistent 
with truth, and must therefore be a subject of 
disapprobation in the sight of a God of truth. 
" All pride (says Jeremy Taylor) is a lie." Pride 
again is forbidden in Scripture. " Every one 
that is proud in heart is an abomination unto 
the Lord."t 

Moreover look to the results. An exaggerated 
idea of our own powers leads us to aim at things 
placed beyond our reach ; of our own dignity, 
to exact from others more than is due, and 
therefore to treat them oppressively and contu- 
meliously. Scripture too exhibits the injurious 
consequences of pride. " When pride cometh, 
then cometh shame."J Again, " Before destruc- 
tion the heart of man is haughty. "|| 

The account of David and Goliath gives us 
a lively description of the insolence of the 
latter. " When the Philistine looked about 
and saw David, he disdained him: for he was 



* Rom. xii. 3. I Prov. xvi. 5. 

I Prov. xi. 2. II Prov. xviii. 12. 



224 INSTINCTIVE MOVING PRINCIPLES. 

but a youth, and ruddy, and of a fair countenance. 
And the Philistine said unto David, ' Am I a 
dog that thou comest to me with staves T And 
the Philistine cursed David by his gods. And 
the Philistine said to David, ' Come to me, and 
I will give thy flesh to the fowls of the air and 
to the beasts of the field.'"* So again the poet 
paints Irus : 

Etfce ykpov irpodvpov jur) ^17 ra^a nai tto^uq eXktj' 
OvK d'teiQf OTi Si] fxoL iTTtXXi^ovffLV cLTrayTeg 

'EXKEfJievat di KeXovrai ; 

* * * * * % 

ov av KaKa firiTicralfiriVf 
KoTTTWP aiJ.(j)OTeprj(TL, ^ajuat 3' eK TrdvraQ odovrag 
Fva^juaJy eEeXdaaifiLf gvoq wg Xri'i^OTeiprig. 
ZwffttL vvv, 'iva TrdvTeg ETnyyujojcn Kal o'l^e 
Mapva/Jievovg* ncog h' dv av veiOTep<^ dydpl iJLd)(Oio ','\ 

And wise enough w^as the answer of the king of 
Israel to the vain-glorious Ben-hadad : " Let not 
him that girdeth on his harness, boast himself 
as he that putteth it ofi*."J 

Vainly to boast of an event before it happens 
is indeed a mark of folly : for herein is implied 
the delivery of a judgment not required, and 
founded upon evidence more or less obscure, 
when we know that hereafter clear light will 
burst forth from the womb of time. 

* 1 Sam. xvii. f Horn. Odyss. S. J 1 Kings xx. 11. 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 225 

Pride then, in its principle involving a lie, 
leads to issues the reverse of good, essentially 
and wholly bad.* A man therefore v^^ho is 
under the dominion of this feeling, naturally 
takes a course of action altogether opposed to 
that which we formerly-j* contemplated as accept- 
able in the sight of God, viz. the aiming at good 
objects in a proper and justifiable manner: more- 
over he violates the law written in passages of 
Holy Scripture, by which our attention is more 
particularly fixed, and at the same time an ad- 
ditional sanction is imposed. 

We will content ourselves with one more 
example ; that of some maxim, such as has been 
mentioned above,J which having been long trea- 
sured in the mind, the love of it has at length 
become a moving principle. || If the maxim be 
sound, this is all as it should be. Our inquirer, 
in reviewing the character of his servants, will 
here find one of essential utility, whom it is 
worth his while to cherish; for its assistance 
may avail when other considerations are not 

* " Primislaus, the first king of Bohemia, kept his country 
shoes always by him, to remember from whence he was raised : 
and Agathocles by the furniture of his table confessed, that 
from a potter he was raised to be the king of Sicily." — Jer. 
Taylor. 

t See p. 145. t ^- "• cl^ap. 6. || See p. 188. 

Q 



226 INSTINCTIVE MOVING PRINCIPLES. 

present to his mind, and he is embarrassed by 
unexpected difficulties. On the other hand, if 
the maxim be evil, or of no particularly good or 
bad tendency, he will very properly endeavour to 
eject it from his mind, as tending to vitiate, or 
at all events perplex his judgment. It is at least 
unprofitable, and ought never to have been ad- 
mitted. 

We have before been led to the consideration 
of prejudices.* Not only does the love of wrong 
or worthless maxims weaken the judgment; but 
unchastised affections and desires in general 
have the same effect. -j* Unless the rightful au- 
thority of the higher faculties be duly asserted, 
unless they command, experience shews that they 
wiU usually serve. Their sensibility will be im- 
paired, their powers limited: thus shorn and 
fettered they will become inferior. This is quite 

* See pp. 106, 107. 

f ** The most common case of Bias (observes Mill), is that 
in which we are biassed by our wishes : but the liability is 
almost as great to the undue adoption of a conclusion which 
is disagreeable to us, as of one which is agreeable, if it be of 
a nature to bring into action any of the stronger passions. 
Persons of timid character are the more predisposed to be- 
lieve any statement, the more it is calculated to alarm them." 
After our Saviour's resurrection, though He shewed His dis- 
ciples His hands and His feet, they *' believed not for joy." 
(Luke xxiv. 41.) The event so accorded with their strongest 
wishes, that at first they could not credit it. 



TRAITS IN THEIR CHARACTER. 227 

agreeable to the usual order of things and the 
appointments of nature. When the authority 
and power of a government are weakened, rebels 
are not usually content with equality ; they as- 
pire to dominion. If once injustice is recognised 
and commenced, there appears no reason why it 
should, nor will it (unless some cause operate as 
a check) stop at one limit rather than another. 

Let us consider then how passion often unduly 
sways the mind and influences conduct. 

Some cases are palpable and glaring. Urged 
by the predominant stimulus, a man rushes like 
a wild beast at his object : not only despises all 
enlarged ideas of propriety and utility; but 
even omits to consider whether the violence of 
his means may not tend to the frustration of his 
own purposes, bad as the purposes may be, and 
unjustifiable the manner of proceeding. Here 
we have the lowest state of degradation — the 
entire prostration of conscience and intellect. 

But suppose a better case than this. Say that 
a person is improperly moved by passion, but 
nevertheless has not utterly divested himself of 
all consideration of his higher faculties. 

It would be difficult indeed to imagine, that 
any undue influence of passion could lead a man, 
in spite of Euclid's demonstration, to the conclu- 
sion that the square of the hypotenuse of a right- 

Q2 



228 INSTINCTIVE MOVING PRINCIPLES. 

angled triangle is not equal to the sum of the 
squares of the two sides ; or (to take another 
sort of proof) that Louis Philippe was not ejected 
from the throne of France in the year 1848. In 
such matters there is no place, no scope for de- 
ception. The propositions asserted are irrefraga- 
bly true. The evidence, and that overwhelming, 
is in their favour: there is none at all against 
them.* But it is where we have to estimate 
things in two opposing scales, and a heavier 
weight of evidence is to be balanced against a 
lighter, that room is afforded for unworthy cavils, 

* " The most violent inclination (writes Mill) to find a set 
of propositions true, will not enable the weakest of mankind 
to believe them without a vestige of intellectual grounds, 
without any, even apparent evidence. It can only act in- 
directly by placing the intellectual grounds of belief in an 
incomplete or distorted shape before his eyes. It makes him 
shrink from the irksome labour of a vigorous induction, when 
he has a misgiving that its result may be disagreeable : and 
in such examination as he does institute, it makes him exert 
that which is in a certain measure voluntary, his attention, 
unfairly; giving a larger share of it to the evidence which 
seems favourable to the desired conclusion, a smaller to that 
which seems unfavourable. And the like, when the bias arises 
not from desire but fear. Although a person afraid of ghosts 
believes that he has seen one on evidence wonderfully in- 
adequate, he does not believe it altogether without evidence : 
he has perceived some unusual appearance while passing 
through a churchyard : he saw something start up near a 
grave, which looked white in the moonshine.'* 



TRAITS IN THEIR CHARACTER. 229 

and the mind biassed by passion is led to error, 
or even grievous delinquency and crime. 

Conceive now first that the truth of facts or 
events is to be established, that such and such 
things have been, are, v^ill be ; as a preliminary 
to action. 

It may be that the scales in v^hich the evidence 
is weighed are not nicely and delicately poised, 
but though there be weight in both, still one or 
the other may preponderate heavily, and in a 
manner altogether clear to persons of ordinary 
honesty and fairness : yet, by one who is deficient 
in these qualities and subjected to the evil influ- 
ence, the worse may be supposed to be the better 
argument : he may admit an unsound conclusion, 
and so conduct himself in a manner totally at 
variance with the light which has been given 
him. In proportion to the greater weight of 
the preponderating evidence, his delinquency of 
course becomes greater. " Woe unto thee, Cho- 
razin, woe unto thee, Bethsaida ! for if the mighty 
works which were done in you had been done in 
Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long 
ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I say unto you, 
it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at 
the day of judgment than for you,"* Such are 
the consequences of not rightly estimating evi- 

* Matth. xi. 21. 



230 INSTINCTIYE MOVING PRINCIPLES. 

dence. But to return to the principle. It does 
not follow that because Chorazin and Bethsaida 
were worse, Tyre and Sidon were not bad. A^ 
there are innumerable degrees of evidence, so 
of course are there of sinfulness in not rightly 
appreciating its force. It has been shewn* that 
sometimes even in matters of great importance 
truth can only be obtained by difficult efforts, 
by laborious application of the highest powers 
of intellect, by severe cross-examination possibly 
and sifting ; such investigation being carried on 
in a manner the most composed, calm, unruffled. 
But suppose in a case of this kind the unfair bias 
of passion is introduced. Then its unjust weight 
causes that which is essentially lighter to appear 
the heavier scale, and falsehood is obtained in- 
stead of truth. The man acts (it may be) suitably 
to certain propositions assumed to be true, which 
nevertheless are not true: and thus a capital 
error is committed. 

But another case, where passion warps the 
judgment, is where the evidence is insufficient, 
and in reality it only appears that a proposition 
very possibly may be true ; yet a person earnestly 
desiring to act suitably to the proposition sup- 
posed to be true, takes it as such, and proceeds 

* Page 22. 



TRAITS IN THEIR CHARACTER. 231 

accordingly. In the cases before supposed, pas- 
sion prevented him from recognising the stronger 
power of evidence. Here, the matter being doubt- 
ful, his desire leads him to an unjustifiable as- 
sumption, According to the law of England, 
as exemplified in the administration of criminal 
justice, a man is dealt with as innocent, unless 
proved to be guilty. This is sometimes vaunted 
as a sign of the mild spirit of English law. It is 
in reality a maxim according only with strict jus- 
tice. You are not justified in punishing, unless 
you are at liberty to take for granted the guilt 
of the accused. You can only assume this guilt 
when it is shewn by evidence, proved. In cases 
involving moral conduct, it is of the utmost im- 
portance to bear in mind that an onus prohandi 
lies upon the shoulders of him who makes asser- 
tions. Clearly then it is the business of the 
accuser to prove his allegations. It is not incum- 
bent upon the accused to make answer to a vague 
and unsubstantiated charge by proof of his inno- 
cence. Similarly if claims of a doubtful character, 
i. e. really doubtful to my own conscience, are 
preferred against me, I am not bound to recog- 
nise them. Before the mind can admit a prin- 
ciple, it must be convinced that the principle is^ 
not that it may he sound. Otherwise it assumes 
what may or may not be true, wherein is a moral 
delinquency. 



232 INSTINCTIVE MOYING PRINCIPLES. 

But say, that in a question involving conduct, 
the mind, in spite of perplexities, has neverthe- 
less arrived at truth in regard to the certainty 
of facts or events. The business, however, is not 
yet completed. Another stage, and perhaps a 
difficult one, still remains. A course of action 
is to be adopted suitable to such facts or events. 
Be it granted that the jury is right in finding the 
prisoner guilty, yet if the judge infiicts an undue 
punishment, here is a fiaw in the proceedings. 
Similarly in the case of a man improperly influ- 
enced by passion. Though he may not have been 
misled in his search for the truth of certain alleged 
circumstances, he may yet fail in respect to the 
conduct to be pursued, and thus fall into error, 
vice, crime. Still, all along perhaps will he pro- 
fess that he is acting according to his conscience. 
This indeed, though a judge, is a partial one; 
has used a false balance, and does itself require 
instruction.* " Consult not with a woman (says 



* See above, pp. 107, 108. Persons are sometimes inclined 
to think that errors in judgment cannot imply any fault in 
their moral character. When labouring under such errors, 
they are accustomed too to vaunt their sincerity. " At least 
they are no hypocrites." " It would be well for them if they 
were as clear-sighted as their neighbours, but they are as God 
made them, and their abilities were given by Him." Assuredly 
no complaint can lie against them, because their natural powers 



TRAITS IN THEIR CHARACTER. 233 

the wise son of Sirach) respecting her of whom 
she is jealous ; neither with a coward in matters 
of war; nor with a merchant concerning ex- 
change; nor with a buyer of selling; nor with 
an envious man of thankfulness; nor with an 
unmerciful man touching kindness ; nor with the 
slothful for any work ; nor with an hireling for 
a year of finishing work ; nor with an idle servant 
of much business."* 

It is of course manifest that the more know- 
ledge our inquirer can obtain of the natural ten- 
dencies of the instinctive moving principles, the 
better prepared will he be to govern and to use 
them. These principles have a character, and are 
subject to habits. He will be diligent therefore 
in continuing his observation of this character, 
of which he has already noticed some peculi- 
arities. He will recollect the manner of their 
operation at former periods of his life, when 
subjected to a looser system of government than 
that which he now intends to impose. He will 



are not greater than they are : nevertheless a very grave charge 
may be substantiated if they do not duly cultivate and improve 
the talents committed to their trust, or if they perversely refuse 
to avail themselves of the light given to direct their path, and 
so fall into error through their own wilful indulgence of pre- 
judice and passion. 

* Ecclus. XXX vii. 11. 



234 INSTINCTIVE MOVING PRINCIPLES. 

remark the mental phenomena exhibited by other 
men, and compare them with his own. He will 
gain information from the remarks of his friends 
or from books. Thus a wise general studies the 
disposition and habits of his officers and soldiers ; 
he has gleaned knowledge perhaps by observing 
their conduct under the command of former gene- 
rals his predecessors ; and he may have remarked 
the character of other soldiers under other rules 
of government; he receives assistance too from 
experienced and skilful friends. Accordingly he 
obtains a facility in fulfilling his duties; and 
while he keeps all under due restraint, he makes 
all do his work. The consideration of habits 
then, important in all respects, is worthy of 
especial attention, as connected with the cha- 
racter of our lower propensities. It may suffice 
to adduce a well-known passage of Butler with 
reference to this matter : 

" The constitution of human creatures, and 
indeed of all creatures which come under our 
notice, is such as that they are capable of natu- 
rally becoming qualified for states of life, for 
which they were once wholly unqualified. In 
imagination we may indeed conceive of creatures 
as incapable of having any of their faculties natu- 
rally enlarged, or as being unable naturally to 
acquire any new qualifications : but the faculties 



TRAITS IN THEIR CHARACTER. 235 

of every species known to us are made for en- 
largement; for acquirements of experience and 
habits. We find ourselves in particular endued 
with capacities, not only of perceiving ideas, and 
of knowledge or perceiving truth, but also of 
storing up our ideas and knowledge by memory. 
We are capable not only of acting and of having 
diiferent momentary impressions made upon us, 
but of getting a new facility in any kind of action, 
and of settled alterations in our temper or cha- 
racter. The power of the two last is the power 

of habits. 

******* 

" Habits of the mind are produced by the 
exertion of inward practical principles, i. e. by 
carrying them into act, or acting upon them ; the 
principles of obedience, of veracity, justice, and 
charity. Nor can those habits be formed by any 
external course of action, otherwise than as it 
proceeds from these principles ; because it is 
only these inward principles exerted, which are 
strictly acts of obedience, of veracity, of justice, 
and of charity. So likewise habits of attention, 
industry, self-government are in the same manner 
acquired by exercise: and habits of envy and 
revenge by indulgence, whether in outward act 
or in thought and intention, L e. inward act ; for 
such intention is an act. 



236 INSTINCTIVE MOVING PRINCIPLES. 

" From our very faculty of habits, passive 
impressions by being repeated grow weaker. 
Thoughts by often passing through the mind 
are felt less sensibly: being accustomed to 
danger begets intrepredity, i.e, lessens fear; to 
distress, lessens the passion of pity ; to instances 
of others' mortality, lessens the sensible impres- 
sion of our own. And from these two obser- 
vations together — that practical habits are formed 
and strengthened by repeated acts, and that pas- 
sive impressions grow weaker by being repeated 
upon us — it must follow that active habits may 
be gradually forming and strengthening, by a 
course of acting upon such and such motives and 
excitements, whilst these motives and excite- 
ments themselves are by proportionable degrees 
growing less sensible, i.e. are continually less 
and less sensibly felt, even as the active habits 
strengthen. And experience confirms this: for 
active principles, at the very time that they are 
less lively in perception than they were, are found 
to be somehow wrought more thoroughly into 
the temper and character, and become more ef- 
fectual in influencing our practice. The three 
things just mentioned may afford instances of 
it. Perception of danger is a natural excitement 
of passive fear and active caution ; and by being- 
inured to danger habits of the latter are gradually 



TRAITS IN THEIR CHARACTER. 2B7 

wrought, at the same time that the former gra- 
dually lessens. Perception of distress in others 
is a natural excitement, passively to pity, and 
actively to relieve it : but let a man set himself 
to attend to, inquire out, and relieve distressed 
persons, and he cannot but grow less and 
less sensibly affected mth the various miseries 
of life, vdth which he must become acquainted ; 
when yet, at the same time, benevolence, con- 
sidered not as a passion ' but as a practical 
principle of action, will strengthen : and whilst 
he passively compassionates the distressed less, 
he will acquire a greater aptitude actively 
to assist and befriend them. So also, at the 
same time that the daily instances of men's 
dying around us give us daily a less sensible 
passive feeling or apprehension of our own 
mortality, such instances greatly contribute to 
the strengthening a practical regard to it in 
serious men, i.e. to forming an habit of acting 
with a constant view to it."* 

* This passage may teach us to appreciate a very remark- 
able contrast. One man is free from the dominion of bad 
passions; and his good feelings quietly and systematically 
serve their proper purposes. Another is governed by the bad, 
which being indulged gain increased power ; while the good 
not duly operating become at length inefficient. 

Is there not something especially moral in these truths re^ 
specting passive principles and active habits ? 



238 INSTINCTIVE MOVING PRINCIPLES. 

If it was intended that man being moved by certain good 
feelings, as for instance of pity for distress, should act accord- 
ingly, i. e. proceed to exert himself, with a view of affording 
relief ; and if having felt the emotion, being sensible of the 
call upon him, he does not act ; would it a priori seem likely 
that God would allow His good gifts to be habitually slighted? 
Would it appear consistent with His dignity, or suitable to 
His wisdom, continually and for ever to persevere in supplying 
motives and opportunities to mankind, of which men never 
availed themselves ? See too what experience teaches us. Is 
it not of a piece with the general dealings of Providence, that 
a call not being obeyed, does gradually become less powerful, 
and at length cease ? Even in our temporal affairs if we neg- 
lect opportunities, w^e are not able to recal them at pleasure. 
So in Scripture we read, " From him that hath not shall be 
taken away even that which he hath." (Matth. xxvi. 29.) 

Again, if on the other hand the passive principles, supposed 
good, produce their due effect ; if they generate active habits, 
and if the principles, at the very time that they are less lively in 
perception than they were, are found to be somehow wrought 
more thoroughly into the temper and character, and are more 
effectual in influencing practice ; then indeed may it not well 
be tolerated and permitted, (let us speak with all reverence ! ) 
that the passive impressions become by repetition gradually 
weaker? For their object is at length accomplished; and 
there is no further need of their very perceptible power. 

Moreover, if bad passive impressions, as those of envy, 
revenge, are allowed habitually to influence to action ; then 
naturally (and how can it be said unjustly ?) the moral cha- 
racter becomes in the worst manner vitiated. For a step 
beyond the mere admission of evil principles being taken, and 
active habits being formed ; the man only reaps what he has 
sown ; and whom can he blame but himself ? Whereas, on the 
contrary, if the evil affection, the passive principle, is always 
checked, and so, not leading to action, becomes gradually 
weaker, and at length a habit of insensibility to its power is 



TRAITS IN THEIR CHARACTER. 239 

formed ; does not the man thus fairly enjoy the benefit of 
those moral checks which he has been led to impose ? Is not 
his character relieved from a portion of that evil by which it 
has been threatened? 



THE END OF BOOK III. 



BOOK IV. 

REFLECTIONS UPON CEETAIN CAPITAL POINTS 
ESTABLISHED IN HOLY SCRIPTURE. 



CHAPTER I. 



THE BOOK OF REVELATION TO BE CONSULTED 
JOINTLY WITH THE BOOK OF NATURE. CERTAIN 
GREAT TRUTHS EXHIBITED IN SCRIPTURE WILL 
ILLUSTRATE OUR PRINCIPLES AND SERVE AS 
GUIDES OF CONDUCT. 

Hitherto the attention of our inquirer has 
been occupied in obtaining and illustrating his 
conclusions in whatever manner he was able. 
Any source of assistance that lay before him, he 
has adopted. And surely without impropriety. 
For though in carrying on such speculations as 
those to which he has been led, men have some- 
times studiously avoided all considerations of re- 
vealed religion,* his objects have not been to 

* *' Mr. Hume (writes Paley) has been pleased to complain 
of tke modern scheme of uniting ethics with the Christian 
theology." . . . . " An ambassador judging by what he knows 
of his sovereign's disposition, and arguing from what he has 
observed of his conduct, or is acquainted with of his designs, 
may take his measures in many cases with safety, and presume 
with great probability how his master would have him act on 
most occasions that arise ; but if he have his commission and 
instructions in his pocket, it would be strange not to look into 
them. He will naturally conduct himself by both rules." 

r2 



244 BOOK OF NATURE. 

establish systems upon limited data, but to find 
out and so discharge his duty as a " sensitive, 
intellectual, moral, and religious being."* His 
proceedings, however, have been but agreeable 
to the conduct of all men in matters wherein 
they are deeply interested. When any one is 
struggling for life or death, he gladly takes as- 
sistance whencesoever it may be gained. Accord- 
ingly the inquirer struggling for spiritual life or 

*' We have two sources of knowledge (says Abercrombie), 
the light of conscience, and the light of divine revelation. In 
making this statement I am aware that I tread on delicate 
ground, and that some will consider an appeal to the sacred 
writings as a departure from the strict course of philosophical 

inquiry If indeed in any investigation in moral science, 

we disregard the light which is furnished by the sacred writings, 
we resemble an astronomer who should rely entirely on his 
unaided sight, and reject those optical inventions which extend 
so remarkably the field of his vision, as to be to him the reve- 
lation of things not seen. ... In the limited knowledge which 
is furnished by vision alone, he finds diflSculties which he can- 
not explain, .... but in the more extended knowledge which 
the telescope yields, these difficulties disappear; facts are 
brought together which seemed unconnected or discordant; 
and the universe appears one beautiful system of order and 
consistency. It is the same in the experience of the moral 
inquirer when he extends his views beyond the inductions of 
reason, and corrects his conclusions by the testimony of God. 
Discordant principles are brought together; doubts and dif- 
ficulties disappear ; and beauty, order, and harmony are seen 
to pervade the government of the Deity." 
* Brown's Lectures. 



I 



BOOK OF REVELATION. 245 

spiritual death, has gathered the elements of his 
knowledge wherever they lay scattered. Of the 
book of revelation as well as of the book of 
nature,* God assuredly designed us to make use, 
and to observe the phenomena of other men's 
minds, and to avail ourselves of their knowledge 
no less than of our own. But, from what source 
soever the inquirer has derived his truths, they 
are at all events illustrations of the application of 
moral evidence : and though we have not pre- 
tended to exhibit a complete system in regard 
to any subject on which we have touched, it has 
still been our aim to shew a manner of proceed- 
ing which may be adopted by the mind of man 
in all matters claiming its attention. An ex- 
tension of his principles may, it is hoped, suffice 
for our inquirer in what circumstances soever he 
may be placed. 

In regard to what now lies before us, it is 
indeed foreign to our purpose to pursue the 
details of Scripture : it is certain, too, that plain 
precepts, or even clear inferences from acknow- 
ledged truths, will at once be received by every 
one who studies the sacred volume from a sense 

* " There are two books (says an old writer) from whence 
I collect my divinity ; besides that written one of God, another 
of His servant nature, that universal and public manuscript 
that lies expansed unto the eyes of all." 



246 BOOK OF NATURE. 

of duty and with a sincere desire of improve- 
ment.* Nevertheless, Scripture being a book, as 



* It really seems almost superfluous to urge upon Christians 
the duty of frequently and diligently studying Scripture. This 
book is not a mere subject of curious speculation and literary 
research, but is stamped with divine authority, and exhibits 
the relation of God to man. Consider the conduct of men 
even in temporal relations. If the legislature of a country 
enacts a law, those who are to carry out the enactment dili- 
gently study its force and meaning. Otherwise how can they 
fulfil their duty ? Can anything more decidedly express dis- 
respect and contempt for any one than to take no heed of the 
meaning of a notice which he gives you ? We pay attention 
to what is said by an inferior, much more an equal, still more 
a superior. But what if that superior has an official authority 
and control over our conduct? Suppose a parent writes 
a letter to his son containing directions for his guidance : will 
he not read and diligently try to understand its full meaning? 
Yet how infinitely less stringent are any human ties than those 
which bind man to God ! What inexpressible majesty and 
dignity are combined in the idea of the Deity ! What feelings 
of love, veneration, and hope are united at the mention of His 
name ! 

Again, " man shall not live by bread alone, but by every 
word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." (Matth. 
iv. 4.) If a child does not receive that sufficiency of bodily 
food which would be wholesome, is not his growth stunted, 
his body weakened, his energy impaired ? But on the other 
hand, if he is properly fed, does he not duly increase in stature 
and become physically vigorous? Does not analogy, then, 
thus shew what is likely to be the case in regard to spiritual 
growth ; in regard to our increase "unto the measure of 
the stature of the fulness of Christ?" (Eph. iv. 13.) 



BOOK OF REVELATION. 247 

Paley says, " sui generis," it may be worth our 
while, before we conclude our speculations, to 
take more particular account of certain capital 
points established in Holy Writ. For truths 
materially affecting the condition of man, and 
intimately connected with the consideration of his 
powers and responsibilities, are there presented 
to us, and are not discoverable by mere human 
sagacity. But in whatever way we can gain 
information of circumstances so weighty as to 
change, or indeed considerably modify, our whole 
position as creatures related to our great Creator, 
whether from the light of nature alone, or from 
that and Scripture conjoined, or from Scripture 



Moreover, how admirably suited is constant meditation upon 
Scripture to produce the desired results. We often fail in our 
duty, not because we are ignorant, but because the sense of 
this duty is not sufficiently fixed in our minds. The remem- 
brance glides away in the hurry and bustle of life. Accord- 
ingly St. Peter writes, " I will not be negligent to put you 
always in remembrance of these things, though ye know them." 
(2 Pet. i. 12). Now the frequent perusal of holy Scripture 
naturally supplies a remedy for our weakness, and stirs up the 
remembrance of things which though not unknown, are still 
unready for application at the time of need. 

Add to these considerations the blessing which, we may 
well hope, will attend those who study God's Word in obe- 
dience to His will. Experience likewise shews that such study 
does tend to the implanting, cherishing, and strengthening of 
holy desires. 



248 BOOK OF NATURE. 

only,* such information must be of inestimable 
value to those who are honestly endeavouring to 
fulfil their destiny. 



* Some persons are in the habit of absurdly vilifying their 
natural powers, and conclude that they thus honour God, that 
they exalt His written word, and abase themselves in a manner 
acceptable to Him by entertaining a low estimate of their own 
capacities. 

"Now it is quite clear that Scripture cannot be exalted by 
such contempt of men's natural faculties: for Scripture is 
admitted because the evidence on which it depends is such 
as to commend itself to the judicial faculty of mankind. If 
therefore we vilify this faculty, instead of exalting Scripture, 
we sap the very foundations on which it is supported. " In 
God's name," says a learned prelate, " if Scripture can be 
shewn to be inconsistent with reason, let Scripture be given 
up." 

Moreover, as regards self-abasement, the judicial faculty is 
God's gift equally with Scripture, and therefore not to be 
lightly esteemed. Again, whatever we have, we hold as 
stewards. If then we despise, i. e. do not estimate at its true 
worth that which we thus hold, how shall we duly apply it to 
its proper purposes, and so render a joyful account to our 
Lord? Besides, to undervalue what is good, is to cherish 
a falsehood, and must therefore be offensive in the sight of 
a God of truth. 

But as these persons are disposed unduly to abase men's 
natural powers, so there are others who improperly exalt 
them ; claim for them more than is their right ; require expla- 
nations to which they are not entitled ; and reject Scripture 
because their natural faculties are unable to comprehend the 
mysteries therein revealed. If I have evidence to shew that 
a thing is, it is absurd to reject such evidence because I know 



BOOK OF REVELATION. 249 

Moreover, by considering these main features 
of Scripture, we shall but continue the course 
which has hitherto been pursued : we shall but 
contemplate truths which illustrate the power of 
moral evidence, and are themselves guides of 
conduct. 



not how it is. An ignorant peasant may observe a railway 
train pass by him with amazing velocity : he knows not how 
the velocity is accomplished ; but his belief that it is accom- 
plished is not at all shaken by such ignorance. A certain 
quantity of arsenic if administered to a man will assuredly kill 
him. I may not be sufficiently acquainted with the secrets of 
nature, with chemistry and the constitution of the human sub- 
ject, to know how this comes to pass ; but I am convinced that 
it does happen, because I have abundant evidence compelling 
me to believe, and none at all to the contrary. Such examples 
illustrate by contrast the conduct of those who reject Scripture 
because it contains things above their comprehension. While 
they profess to exalt the natural powers of man, they are in 
reality guilty of absurdity. Just as the former persons, pre- 
tending to exalt Scripture do in effect, as far as in them lies, 
undermine its foundations. 



( 250 * ) 



CHAPTER II. 

THE NATURAL SINFULNESS OF MAN. 

Sin, according to the definition given in Scrip- 
ture, is " the transgression of the law."* And 
it is plain that these words draw no distinction 
between what are called small sins and great 
sins : but it is determined absolutely that he who 
transgresseth the law sinneth. Now a most re- 
markable trait in the human character, and a 
truth of immense importance as well as dif- 
ficulty for man both fully to know and prac- 
tically to acknowledge, is the defilement and 
degradation of the entire human race. To an 
intelligent mind acquainted with only a portion 
of our history, might it not appear most strange 
and inexplicable that rational creatures, such as 
we are, should not only not fulfil but even oppose 
the designs of the Creator. For why, he might 
argue, should an omniscient Maker make such 
beings'? When he was informed that God had 
written a law in sufiiciently legible characters 

* 1 .John iii. 4. 



THE NATURAL SINFULNESS OF MAN. 251 

upon our hearts, would not his surprise be in- 
creased 1 For now, he might reason, was not this 
law thus written with the intent that it should 
be obeyed 1 After he was told that the law 
of nature had been emphatically repeated and 
authoritatively confirmed by a communication 
written in ink, as that of Holy Scripture, would 
not this astonishment be altogether inexpressible ? 
Might he not observe that the rivers obey their 
law and flow into the ocean ; the planets know 
their courses ; " the heavens declare the glory of 
God, and the firmament sheweth His handy- 
work; one day telleth another, and one night 
certifieth another ; the sun cometh forth as a 
bridegroom out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as 
a giant to run his course" 1* Might he not cry 
out with Jeremy Taylor, that " God has fitted 
horses and mules with strength, bees and pismires 
with sagacity, harts and hares with swiftness, 
birds with feathers and a light airy body; and 
they all know their times, and are fitted for their 
work, and regularly acquire the proper end of 
their creation ; but man that was designed to an 
immortal duration and the fruition of God for 
ever, knows not how to obtain it; he is made 
upright to look up to heaven, but he knows no 
more how to purchase it than to climb it." For, 



* Psa. 



XIX. 



252 THE NATURAL SINFULNESS OF MAN. 

as St. Paul tells us, man is " dead in trespasses 
and sins."* 

That we are naturally corrupt, however, is a 
truth most important for us to know and to ac- 
knowledge. A sincere and settled conviction of 
his own sinfulness must necessarily be felt by 
every man who, renouncing that sinfulness, 
honestly endeavours to become for the future 
a faithful servant of God. The preliminary is 
naturally indispensable. He who determines to 
forsake a thing must know its existence. What 
if a man was sick, and pretended he was well? 
he would not avail himself of the medicines 
suited to his case, and therefore might even 
lose his life, in consequence of not recognising 
a first principle. But he whose body is diseased 
first admits that it is so ; then betaking himself 
to a physician, receives suitable directions, and in 
ordinary cases recovers his health. Similarly in 
regard to spiritual sickness. Acknowledging our 
disease, we must have recourse to the great 
Physician of our souls, and availing ourselves 
of the remedies prescribed by Him, can thus 
only hope to be healed. " Come unto me," says 
our Saviour, " all ye that labour and are heavy 
laden, and I will give you rest."t They who 

* Eph. ii. 1. t Matth. xi. 28. 



THE NATURAL SINFULNESS OF MAN. 253 

answer to such a call, confess that they do labour 
and are heavy laden. 

Nevertheless, in spite of the importance of ftilly 
knowing, and at all times practically acknow- 
ledging our natural corruption, it does so hap- 
pen that self-conceit and self-love blind our judg- 
ments: it is often a matter of long time and 
great difficulty to receive and preserve a genu- 
ine conviction of the wickedness of mankind in 
general, and of our own sinfulness in particular : 
and some of us, notwithstanding great variety 
and severity of discipline, scarcely seem to arrive 
at the conclusion at all. Sin in the abstract is 
seen to be so hateful, that though we persist in 
transgressing (such is human weakness and in- 
consistency !) we yet invent specious names as 
a cloak, and conceal the deformity of vice even 
from our own eyes. Men judge themselves not 
by the perfect standard of God's law, but by 
rules which they see recognised among whole 
classes of mankind : accordingly, if the rules are 
faulty, as assuredly they often are, the conclu- 
sions obtained are erroneous : thus we cheat and 
delude ourselves to our ruin. Some offences are 
termed little by those who forget the saying of 
the son of Sirach, " He that despise th little things 
shall perish by little and little/'* Other trans- 

* Ecclus. xix. 1. 



254 THE NATURAL SINFULNESS OF MAN. 

gressions are indeed a violation of the spirit of 
the law, and must therefore be offensive in the 
sight of God, " who is a Spirit, and therefore to 
be worshipped in spirit and truth ; "* still they 
are of such a nature, that men endeavour with 
some colourable pretence, and even self-deception, 
to reconcile them with the letter of the law, and 
so call themselves innocent. Great allowance 
again is made for human infirmity and the 
strength of temptation; and the goodness of 
God is an attribute especially magnified. In 
short evasions, subterfuges, palliations, too nu- 
merous to recount, are searched out : we endea- 
vour to defend or extenuate certain habits of 
society, for we wish to conform ourselves to this 
world ; or, if we cannot avoid an acknowledg- 
ment of wickedness in general, we deny, or fritter 
away, or excuse our OAvn sins in particular. For 
in truth the medicine which Christ supplies, we 
think bitter; like spoiled children we are unwil- 
ling to take it ; so we refuse even to acknowledge 
the complaint. 

On the whole then, the natural sinfulness of 
man is a very suprising and wonderful circum- 
stance : and though the strangeness of the truth, 
when admitted, tends to impress it more deeply 

* John iv. 24. 



THE NATURAL SINFULNESS OF MAN. 255 

on the mind, such strangeness nevertheless stands 
forth as a preliminary obstacle to the admission : 
there are likewise additional difficulties in con- 
sequence of the immoderate self-esteem and self- 
love by which men's minds are darkened : yet as 
the truth is one which it is absolutely necessary 
for us to know and to appreciate ; it would seem 
(with all reverence be it spoken !) that God, of 
His goodness, has been pleased to take especial 
account of these things. There are indeed many 
wonderful secrets of nature, which, however irre- 
spectively of the gratification of curiosity, it does 
not concern man to know ; and accordingly they 
are hidden from his view. Still, as regards a 
matter of so much difficulty and importance, God 
has thought fit to allow abundant and indeed 
overpowering evidence to be supplied to us of the 
certainty of our natural corruption : at the same 
time He has condescended to remove a cause of 
perplexity, by explaining how it came to pass 
that man's nature became thus vitiated; "By 
one man sin entered into the world, and death 
by sin."* " In Adam all die."t 

It is not necessary for our purpose to dwell 
upon the mass of evidence which has been men- 
tioned. Suffice it to advert to some remarkable 

* Rom. V. 12. t Cor. xv. 22. 



256 THE NATURAL SINFULNESS OF MAN. 

particulars. First then the doctrine of human 
corruption is expressly asserted in Scripture, and 
so may be called a matter of revelation : "By one 
man sin entered into the world, and death by 
sin ; and so death passed upon all men, for that 
all have sinned."* " I see another law in my 
members warring against the law of my mind, 
and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin 
which is in my members."f " I was shapen in 
iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive 
me.":[: " The flesh lusteth against the spirit, and 
the spirit against the flesh; and these are con- 
trary the one to the other, so that ye cannot do 
the things that ye would. "|| " If we say that we 
have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth 
is not in us."§ " All have sinned, and come short 
of the glory of God."^ " The heart is deceit- 
ful above all things, and desperately wicked."** 
" Enter not into judgment with thy servant, O 
Lord; for in thy sight shall no man living be 
justified, "j-f The assertion of the same truth is 
repeated both directly and by implication through- 
out Scripture. The whole scheme of redemption 
rests upon it as a pillar. If men are redeemed, 
from what are they redeemed but the power and 

* Rom. V. 12. t I^oni- vii- 23. f Ps. li. 5. 

II Gal. V. 17. § 1 John i. 8. IF Rom. iii. 23. 

** Jer. xvii. 9. ft Ps. cxliii. 2. 



THE NATURAL SliSFULNESS OF MAN. 257 

the penalties of sin'? Accordingly our Saviour 
Himself says, " I came not to call the righteous 
(there were none righteous, i. e, observers of the 
whole law), but sinners to repentance."* How- 
ever humiliating the doctrine may be, our busi- 
ness is to consider whether it be true. We have 
seen what is given in Holy Writ ; and though 
before the delivery of Scripture this doctrine can 
scarcely be said to have been fully recognised, 
still human observation may in this as in other 
matters afford confirmation and illustration of 
the truth of Scripture. Let a man then look 
back upon the various transactions of his past 
life, and say whether experience does not prove 
that his conduct has been sinful from childhood 
up to the present hour] And in forming his 
estimate of life and conduct, I would invite him to 
consider not merely gross and grievous violations 
of God's law, as murder, open theft, barefaced 
adultery, heinous acts, the results of long-cherish- 
ed evil thoughts, of which he may probably be 
innocent : but I would ask him also to probe his 
conscience in regard to his very thoughts, for 
unchastised thoughts may involve guilt : I would 
suggest a severe scrutiny of what he may have 
been accustomed to call his venial offences ; for 

* Matth. ix. 13. 



258 THE NATURAL SINJ'ULNESS OF MAN. 

transgressions of the law, whether great or small, 
are still transgressions, recognitions of an evil 
principle, and proofs of the truth of Scripture. 

But again, let him remember the conduct of 
mankind in general. Do not the records of all 
nations and of all time, do not wars of which we 
read, murders, robberies, adulteries, blasphemies, 
perjuries, idolatries, confirm the same lamentable 
truth ? If we want an account of the iniquities 
of the heathen, St. Paul's statement* may well suf- 
fice. He indeed exhibits a climax of wickedness. 
Not only did men do the things of which he 
presents the black catalogue; not only did they 
proceed a step further, and allow the principle 
of sin in their own case ; but they had pleasure 
in sinners as sinners ; they loved the principle of 
trangression in general; they called evil good, 
and good evil. But the history of European 
society for the last eighteen hundred years shews 
the deeds of even professing Christians during 
that period. " From whence (says St. James) 
come wars and fightings among you ? Come they 
not hence, even of your lusts that war in your 
members 1 "f Consider too the horrors of the 
Inquisition ; the burnings of martyrs ; such prin- 
ciples as those involved in the sale of indulgences, 

* Rom. i. 26, et seq. f James iv. 1. 



THE NATURAL SINFULNESS OF MAN. 259 

and the forced celibacy of the clergy ; such deeds 
as the massacre of St. Bartholomew. Let us 
review again what we know more immediately. 
Do not circumstances in the conduct of our 
contemporaries, our neighbours, acquaintances, 
relatives, friends, convey additional assurance] 
Innumerable are the faults of which ail may be 
accused. Many the offences that human laws 
cannot reach, but which God will punish. Not 
a few are the thefts, forgeries^^ robberies, bur- 
glaries, burnings, even murders, by which our 
property and our persons are injured, our minds 
harassed and alarmed. If we desire confir- 
mation arising from the judgments of the wise 
and learned, we may find innumerable passages 
and multitudes of authors. "It is a saying of 
St. Austin (writes Bishop Sherlock), Si non peri- 

isset homo, non venisset Christus It would 

be absurd to suppose that Christ came to redeem 
man from the state and condition in which God 
made him." Again, in a passage intended doubt- 
less to be applied to men in general: "A con- 
demned malefactor must not sue to his prince in 
the same terms that a faithful and deserving 
subject may : the one may represent his service 
and obedience; the other has nothing to plead 
but his misery: one applies to the justice and 
generosity of the prince, the other to his pity 

s2 



260 THE NATURAL SINFULNESS OF MAN. 

and compassion. Consider then with yourself: 
Can you stand a trial with God '? Can you plead 
your services to Him, and say, Behold Thy servant; 
do unto him according to his works ] If you can, 
justice will do you right : but if your heart mis- 
gives you ; if your conscience cries out to you. 
Let us not enter into judgment with our God, 
for in Thy sight shall no man living be justified : 
what have you to do, but to seek, if haply you 
may find the mercy of GodT' ''Such is the 
imperfection (says Barrow), the impotency, the 
impurity of all men, even of the wisest and 
best men (discernible to them who search their 
hearts and try their ways, strictly comparing them 
to the rules of duty, God's laws, and the dictates 
of reason), that no man can have reason to be 
satisfied in himself, or in his doings ; every man 
looking into himself shall find his mind so pes- 
tered with vain and filthy thoughts; his will so 
perverse, so froward, so weak, so unsteady ; his 
desires so fond and unwarrantable ; his passions 
so disorderly and ungovernable ; his afiections so 
misplaced, or at least so cold and dull in regard 
to their right objects ; his resolutions toward 
good so weak and slack; his intentions so cor- 
rupt, or mixed with oblique regards: he that 
observeth his actions shall in the best of them 
(as to the principles whence they rise, as to the 



THE NATURAL SINFULNESS OF MAN. 261 

ends they drive at, as to the manner of their 
performance) find so many great defailances, that 
he will see cause rather to abhor than admire 
himself. 

" Who, let me ask, doth love God with all his 
soul, so as to place in Him his total content and 
delight, so as to do all things out of love to Him, 
with a regard to His honour and service ; so as 
to be willing and glad to part with all things 
for His sake '? Who hath that constant and lively 
sense of God's benefits and mercies that he 
should have] Who hath a perfect resignation 
of will to His pleasure, so as to be displeased 
with no event disposed by His hand '? Who hath 
such a vigour of faith and confidence in Him, as 
will support him in all wants, in all distresses, in 
all temptations, so as never to be disquieted or 
discouraged by them, so as to cast on God (as he 
is commanded) all the cares of his soul and bur- 
dens of his life '? Who constantly maintaineth a 
fervour of spirit, a steadiness of resolution, a clear 
and calm frame of soul, an abstractedness of mind 
from worldly desires and delights'? Who con- 
tinually is fervent and undistracted in his de- 
votion] Who with an unwearied and incessant 
diligence doth watch over his thoughts'? Who 
doth entirely command his passions and bridle 
his appetites'? Who doth exactly govern his 



262 THE NATURAL SINFULNESS OF MAN. 

tongue? Who is perpetually circumspect over 
his actions'? Who loveth his neighbour as him- 
self, seeking his good, and delighting therein as 
in his own, being sorry for his adversities, as if 
they had befallen himself? Who feeleth that 
contrition of spirit, that shame, that remorse for 
his sins, or that detestation of them, vi^hich they 
deserve ? Who is duly sensible of his own un- 
worthiness 1" 

Thus then we have a truth, difficult to receive, 
and yet of great importance for us to know, 
i.e. all men are naturally diseased by a moral 
taint, prone to commit sin,* and actually sinners. 
When a man is convinced of this truth, and has 
freely admitted it with reference to himself, he 
has obtained what may be termed an elementary 
principle of human action : and in regard to the 
evidence by which it is established, we see that 
Scripture and the observation of mankind are 
coherent and harmonious. 

* See Article ix. of our Church. 



( 263 ) 



CHAPTER III. 

OF THE NEW RELATION BETWEEN GOD AND MAN 
CONSEQUENT UPON ADAM'S TRANSGRESSION. RE- 
FLECTIONS ON THE MEDIATIOxV OF CHRIST. 

It is a sad certainty then, that men are thus 
born into the world prone to sin, and that they 
actually do sin. It is of course therefore mani- 
fest, that our condition is materially different 
from what it would be, if there was no such 
tendency, and if it was in our power to live on 
free from transgression, and ever ready to render 
a true answer, that we had at all times discharged 
our entire duty. Such, we have reason to con- 
clude, would be the case of Adam before the fall, 
^. e. that he had a law given to him, and power 
to obey. 

Now, whatever might be the fate of Adam 
consequent upon his fall, suppose that from him 
children were born into the world, subject to 
a law which it was impossible for them to fulfil : 
suppose that without any fault of their own (for 
being unborn at the time of his transgression, 
they could not be answerable for it) they had 



264 THE NEW RELATION BETWEEN GOD AND MAN 

inherited a natural taint and corruption ; conceive 
it however determined, that in the whole issues 
and events of things their de&tiny should be 
miserable, on the ground of their having broken 
a law which was given them to fulfil, while no 
consideration was entertained of their natural 
infirmity. Suppose now it was attempted to 
defend such a dispensation ; suppose it was al- 
leged that if persons lived under a law, and 
transgressed, it was naturally and essentially just 
that they should be punished : conceive it urged 
too. that the transmission of the taint arising from 
Adam's transgression was but agreeable to the 
whole course of events in the world : that what 
was propagated was thus naturally deteriorated 
in consequence of the deterioration of its parent 
stock ; that poor fruit for instance grew on a poor 
tree, and a bad crop was produced by bad seed. 
Still it would be open to an objector to reply : 
Abstractedly indeed it may be right that one who 
breaks a law to which he is subjected by com- 
petent authority, should be punished; yet it 
must be understood as a limitation to this prin- 
ciple, that he has the power to obey ; for as- 
suredly it is what may be likewise termed an 
abstract principle, that no one is justly answerable 
where he has no power, " nemo tenetur impos- 
sibili'*' ; moral agents may reasonably expect to be 



CONSEQUENT UPON ADAm's TRANSGRESSION. 265 

treated according to the rules of morality ; and 
between them and the merely vegetable pro- 
ductions of nature, as fruit or corn, there is an 
essential and marked difference. 

When Adam sinned, it was determined, not 
that the human race should be utterly extin- 
guished, but that a posterity of Adam should 
still be born into the world. Nevertheless it 
appears to have been an indispensable principle, 
that from a vitiated root there must proceed 
children of a corrupt nature. It seems likewise 
another principle, that " the wages of sin is 
death,"* and the sense of ill-desert implies and 
is naturally connected with punishment. Still it 
would appear inconsistent with the justice of 
a just God, to hold His creatures answerable for 
things placed beyond their power. Here then 
are difficulties of which the full comprehension, 
much more the reconciliation, is manifestly placed 
above the reach of man's limited faculties. Just 
as the illiterate and ignorant peasant cannot fully 
understand the difficulties, much less the solution 
of the difficulties, which are presented in the path 
of the statesman : as children are unable to com- 
prehend the circumstances, and therefore of course 
the conduct suitable to the circumstances of their 

* Rom. vi. 23. 



266 THE NEW RELATION BETWEEN GOD AND MAN 

elders : thus man, a priori^ has no means of 
determining what it might be necessary to do 
in the case which has been contemplated ; what 
might be consistent, or not inconsistent, with the 
high attributes and dignity of the Creator ; what 
physically possible or impossible. 

Moreover, all this mystery and difficulty is in 
no way contrary to what, from the very nature 
of the case, might, a priori^ have been well con- 
ceivable. Originally, man was placed in a par- 
ticular relation to his Maker, and faculties being 
given to him agreeable to such a position, by the 
act of man the relation was altered. Now what- 
ever course of conduct it might please God to 
adopt suitable to the new position, it is not at all 
surprising that the powers of man, being adapted 
to the former relation, might not suffice for the 
full comprehension of measures which would 
have been unnecessary if the ancient position 
had been preserved.* 

* In the way of illustration we may remark, that even such 
a doctrine as that of the forgiveness of injuries would have 
been unknown, had not man fallen ; for in a state of innocence 
there would have been no injuries. 

Again, those who reject positive institutions because our 
unassisted powers have been unable to discover their pro- 
priety, would do well to consider, that what might suffice for 
man in his state of innocence under the first dispensation, 
might not suffice in his state of degradation under the second. 



CONSEQUENT UPO^ ADAM's TRANSGRESSION. 267 

It is to be remembered too that man, by an 
act of disobedience, vacated his position of safety, 
and tried unknown depths. Would he be pre- 
served at all 1 If so, how ] Was there any ground 
of expectation that the full understanding of these 
matters should be vouchsafed to him] If a 
sovereign pardons a rebellious chief, and receives 
him again into favour, is it expected that a full 
disclosure of the conflict of principles which pre- 
sented difficulties in the way of pardon, should 
be made to the ofiender ? Is it not enough for 
him that he is pardoned ? Again, a child in his 
perversity may set fire to a house or apply a torch 
to* a train of gunpowder : he knows not the means 
of preservation, which yet others of greater ex- 
perience and intelligence may know and apply. 
It is well for him if he is in any way preserved. 

The difficulties then which were created by 
the act of man, requiring a higher intelligence 
than his own fully to understand, much more 
to solve; God, agreeably to His divine per- 
fections, has been pleased to offer a solution. 
A new dispensation has been proclaimed. The 
ancient relation being violated, God, of His great 

In all such cases the same principle is involved. If a dis- 
pensation is altered by the introduction of new circumstances, 
other new circumstances, consequent upon the alteration, may 
naturally cause difficulty and perplexity. 



268 THE NEW RELATION BETWEEN GOD AND MAN. 

goodness, was pleased to take such measures with 
reference to that violation, as entirely altered the 
circumstances of the case, and established a dif- 
ferent relation. As if in the ordinary aifairs of 
human Hfe a relation subsisting between a supe- 
rior and inferior was virtually annulled by some 
act of the latter, and the superior was then pleased 
to establish a new relation, with alterations and 
modifications adapted to the change of circum- 
stances which had arisen in consequence of the 
conduct of the inferior.* Thus a master may 



* It may perhaps incidentally be remarked that if, under 
this new arrangement the inferior should conduct himself as 
if he was in the old position, he would act very absurdly. 
Nevertheless of a similar character is the behaviour of those 
who, living under the light of the Gospel, reject the overtures 
made to them, and profess to live according to the terms of 
what is called natural religion, a religion evidently inadequate 
to the necessities of men in their present state of defilement 
and degradation. 

Wise men of antiquity, to whom God did not reveal what 
He has revealed to u^ might well be perplexed by the con- 
sideration of the position in which they perceived themselves 
to stand. Though it be granted that our knowledge even now 
is not perfect, still the old relation between God and man, 
such as it might be before the fall, is sufficiently intelligible. 
So the new one as revealed in the Gospel. But those who 
lived before the time of our Saviour might perceive even 
among such as were called the best of mankind, much more 
among the worst, violations by the creature of his natural 
relation to the Creator ; and yet they did not know the course 



THE MEDIATION OF CHRIST. 269 

take an old servant on new terms and conditions. 
A government may employ a general or ambas- 
sador with qualifications of their old understand- 
ing. A father having a son who has failed in one 
undertaking, may establish him in another occu- 
pation upon changed principles and with new 
prospects. 

We have seen that it would have been impos- 
sible for man to have discovered what might be 
the proper course to be adopted with reference 
to the position in which Adam had placed him- 
self. It w^ould even have been irreverent in man 
the offender to have pretended to judge. He 
could not therefore know that any atonement at 
all would be necessary or sufficient. But suppose 
the principle of an atonement admitted, he has 
no faculties by which to ascertain that such 
atonement would properly be made in the per- 
son of Jesus Christ; of whose very existence, 
much more of whose nature, character, and 
qualifications he knows absolutely nothing, save 
what revelation discloses. In the Gospel, how- 

of action adopted by the Creator with reference to such vio- 
lations. Natural religion, insufficient for man in his present 
condition, was yet all of which they might avail themselves. 
For their perplexities, however, they were not responsible, 
since the light was denied. In our time, on the contrary, the 
Deist refuses to receive the explanation which God has given. 



.270 THE NEW RELATION BETWEEN GOD AND MAN. 

ever, we have been taught the various relations 
in which we stand to Jesus Christ. The wisdom 
of God perceived that an atonement was neces- 
sary, and an expiation has been made by the 
death of Christ upon the cross. The thing has 
been done. We can perceive no defensible ob- 
jections, we can allege no valid reason why it 
should not be done. God has done it, and this 
alone is a sufficient proof* that it was suitable to 
the circumstances of the case, and that all con- 
ditions were fully satisfied by the humiliation 
and sufferings of Christ. The doctrine is, doubt- 
less, mysterious, ^. e, beyond our reason, still not 
contrary to reason ; and we have evidence com- 
pelling us to admit the truth. What then have 
w^e to do, but thankfully to receive and duly to 
apply the inestimable benefit ? 

For let us remember, that in the ordinary 
course of human affairs we continually enjoy 
advantages in regard to the nature and essence 
of which we are nevertheless but imperfectly 
informed. Thus, for instance, we continually rely 
upon the authority of persons whose knowledge 
is superior to our own, and so obtain innumerable 
benefits. When I am ill, my physician does not 
explain to me the various workings of his own 

* See a similar caurse of reasoning, p. 173. 



THE MEDIATION OF CHRIST. 271 

more experienced mind ; but, judging of my case, 
and knowing that such and such medicines are 
good for me, he directs ; I obey, and am healed. 
Of like kind in a multitude of relations is the 
intercourse between the learned and the ignorant. 
The necessary dispatch of business alone prevents 
explanations of details. The issue however is 
this: Our experience of the common affairs of 
life trains and disciplines our minds (a discipline 
certainly foreseen and recognised by the Creator) 
to admit the great mysteries of religion ; and we 
see that after all these mysteries are only of a 
piece and uniform with what we daily experience 
in the conduct of our temporal affairs. All this 
does in reality but tend to confirm our faith in 
the doctrines of religion ; because it shews that 
the dispensation of Christianity bears upon it 
a stamp and character similar to those which 
mark the dispensation to which we know that 
we are subject in our temporal concerns. The 
latter assuredly proceeded from the Creator, and 
bears His marks : the same marks we find upon 
the former. 

Nevertheless the mysteries of religion have 
afforded a favourite theme to the subtlety of the 
sceptic. In connexion with this subject of mys- 
teries, let us consider some of his more remarkable 
objections. 



272 THE NEW RELATION BETWEEN GOD AND MAN. 

Our Saviour says, " I am the way, the truth, 
and the life : no man cometh unto the Father 
but by me."* In regard to His being a Mediator 
between God and man, I will take leave to quote 
the following passage from Butler's Analogy : 

" There is not, I think, anything relating to 
Christianity which has been more objected against 
than the mediation of Christ, in some or other of 
its parts. Yet upon thorough consideration there 
seems nothing less justly liable to it. For 

" I. The whole analogy of nature removes all 
imagined presumption against the general notion 
of ' a mediator between God and man.'-j* For 
w^e find all living creatures are brought into the 
world, and their life in infancy is preserved by 
the instrumentality of others; and every satis- 
faction of it, some way or other, is bestowed 
by the like means. So that the visible govern- 
ment which God exercises over the world is 
by the instrumentality and mediation of others. 
And how far His invisible government be or be 
not so, it is impossible to determine at all by 
reason. And the supposition that part of it is so, 
appears, to say the least, altogether as credible 
as the contrary. There is then no sort of objection 
from the light of nature against the general notion 

* John xiv. 6. f 1 Tim. ii. 5. 



THE MEDIATION OF CHRIST. 273 

of a mediator between God and man considered 
as a doctrine of Christianity or as an appointment 
in this dispensation ; since we find by experience 
that God does appoint mediators to be the instru- 
ments of good and evil to us, the instruments of 
His justice and His mercy. And the objection 
here referred to is urged not against mediation 
in that high, eminent, and pecuHar sense in 
which Christ is our mediator, but absolutely 
against the whole notion itself of a mediator at 
all."* 

This is at least a moderate view to take of the 
matter. It is questionable whether the argument 
might not be pressed more strongly so as to recoil 
upon the adversary. 

Let it be granted that there is no objection 
in principle, none a priori, as it is said, to the 
appointment of a mediator in any dispensation 
from God to man: let it he granted likewise 
that God does ordinarily appoint mediators to 
be the instruments of good and evil to mankind. 
On the whole then, not only is there no objection 
to the general notion of a mediator in some new 
dispensation as that of Christianity; but such 
appointment being uniform and of a similar 
character with other known appointments, we 

* Butler's Anal., Part ii. c. v. 



274 THE NEW RELATION BETWEEN GOD AND MAN. 

hence derive what at least is worthy of remark 
when we estimate the full strength of the positive 
evidences of Christianity. 

The whole of the chapter from w^hich the fore- 
going passage has been taken, deserves the most 
attentive consideration. It may be worth while 
to make another extract in regard to the expiatory 
sacrifice of Christ. 

" There is one objection made against the 
satisfaction of Christ which looks to be of this 
positive kind; that the doctrine of his being 
appointed to suffer for the sins of the world, 
represents God as being indifferent whether He 
punished the innocent or the guilty. Now from 
the foregoing observations* we may see the 
extreme slightness of all such objections; and 
(though it is most certain all who make them 
do not see the consequences) that they conclude 
altogether as much against God's whole original 
constitution of nature and the whole daily course 

* The foregoing observations have particular reference to 
the ignorance of men and to the certainty of their being 
incompetent judges, antecedently to revelation, whether a 
mediator was or was not necessary : and on the supposition 
of his being necessary, incompetent judges likewise, antece- 
dently to revelation, of the whole nature of his office or the 
several parts of which it consists, of what was fit and requisite 
to be assigned him, in order to accomplish the ends of Divine 
Providence in the appointment. 



THE MEDIATION OF CHRIST. 275 

of Divine Providence in the government of the 
world, i. e. against the whole scheme of Theism 
and the whole notion of religion as against 
Christianity. For the world is a constitution 
or system whose parts have a mutual reference 
to each other, and there is a scheme of things 
gradually carrying on called the course of nature, 
to the carrying on of which God has appointed 
us in various ways to contribute. And when, 
in the daily course of natural Providence, it is 
appointed that innocent people should suffer for 
the faults of the guilty, this is liable to the very 
same objection as the instance we are now con- 
sidering. 

******* 

Nay if there were any force at all in the objection 
it would be stronger in one respect against natural 
Providence than against Christianity; because 
under the former we are in many cases com- 
manded, and even necessitated whether we will 
or no, to suffer for the faults of others, whereas 

the sufferings of Christ were voluntary. 

******* 
Men, by their follies, run themselves into extreme 
distress, into difficulties which would be abso- 
lutely fatal to them were it not for the inter- 
position and assistance of others. God commands 
by the law of nature that we afford them this 
assistance in many cases where we cannot do it 

t2 



276 THE NEW RELATION BETWEEN GOD AND MAN. 

without very great pains and labour and suffer- 
ing to ourselves. And we see in what a variety 
of ways one person's sufferings contribute to the 

relief of another And being familiarized to 

this, men are not shocked with it " 

The objectors then " do not consider God's 
settled and uniform appointments as His appoint- 
ments at all : or else they forget that vicarious 
punishment is a providential appointment of 
every day's experience; and then, from their 
being unacquainted with the more general laws 
of nature or divine government over the world, 
and not seeing how the sufferings of Christ could 
contribute to the redemption of it unless by arbi- 
trary and tyrannical will, they conclude His suf- 
ferings could not contribute to it any other way. 
And yet what has been often alleged in justifi- 
cation of this doctrine even from the apparent 
natural tendency of this method of our redemp- 
tion, its tendency to vindicate the authority of 
God's laws and deter His creatures from sin; 
this has never yet been answered, and is I think 
plainly unanswerable, though I am far from think- 
ing it an account of the whole of the case." 

If at any time men suffer for the faults of 
others, those faults are the occasion of such suf- 
fering. But a tempest, a fire, or a flood, even 
a peculiar state of weather, may cause suffering. 



THE MEDIATION OF CHRIST. 277 

At some time or other of their life all men have 
endured affliction. " Man is born to trouble as 
the sparks fly upwards."* Whether then the 
faults of others, or a tempest, or a fire, or a flood 
be the cause of suffering, still suffering is pro- 
duced, and the question occurs. In what way- 
ought the certainty of mankind being afflicted 
to modify our notions of the course and constitu- 
tion of nature '? Now the Scripture justifies this 
infliction of pain by various reasons, open indeed 
to examination, but which it is not necessary for 
our present purpose to discuss. In regard to the 
general principle then, we have at least somef 
explanation. So in the case of Christ's sufferings 
we may at all events perceive their " tendency 
to vindicate the authority of God's laws and to 
deter His creatures from sin," even though it be 
admitted that this is far from being " an account 
of the whole of the case." 



* Job V. 7. 

f I say some explanation, because it is of course admitted 
that at present " we see through a glass darkly." Meantime, 
on what ground can we complain, unless we can shew a title 
to further knowledge ? What folly is it to reject the good 
which is offered (for " all things," even afflictions, ** work 
together for good to them that love God," Rom. viii. 28), 
because we are not able to comprehend the mysteries of Divin© 
Providence ! Is not God too, by right, supreme in His own 
world ? 



278 THE NEW RELATION BETWEEN GOD AND MAN. 

On the whole then, taking into consideration 
what has been quoted from Butler, we may I 
think thus briefly conclude : Our ignorance and 
incompetency to judge prevent us from admitting 
any objection in principle to the propriety of 
Christ's vicarious though voluntary sacrifice : on 
the other hand, the principle of vicarious suffering 
is agreeable to the course and constitution of 
nature ; vicarious suffering after all is but a por- 
tion of the sufferings to which men are subjected : 
being familiarized to this course and constitution 
of nature and to these sufferings, we are at least 
not shocked by them : a reason which has often 
been alleged in justification of Christ's vicarious 
suffering, is manifested to our minds ; just as some 
explanation is afforded with respect to the suffer- 
ings of mankind in general : and there may be 
reasons proper to be alleged in justification of the 
sufferings of Christ, though they be concealed 
from us; in the same manner as reasons now 
urged in justification of the sufferings of mankind 
in general were concealed, or at least but partially 
explained, before the promulgation of the Gospel. 



( 279 ) 



CHAPTER IV. 



THE HOLY SPIRIT. 



Another most important truth revealed to us 
in Holy Scripture, is that of the preventing and 
cooperating grace of God's Holy Spirit.* The 
natural taint and corruption of man have been 
already considered. Of himself he is altogether 
insufficient for the discharge of the duties pro- 
posed to him. " Not that we are sufficient to 
think any thing as of ourselves," writes St Paul. -I" 
That duties then should be assigned to man, and 
that he should have no power to fulfil them, 
would seem absurd, unless in some manner or 
other power was seasonably given or attainable. 
Accordingly a thing altogether undiscoverable 

* *' We cannot perceive any improbability that the Being 
who originally framed the wondrous fabric (i.e. the mind of 
man) may thus hold intercourse with it, and provide a remedy 
for its moral disorders : and thus a statement such as human 
reason never could have anticipated, comes to us invested with 
every element of credibility and of truth." (Abercrombie, 
Intellect. Powers.) 

t 2 Cor. iii. 5. 



280 THE HOLY. SPIRIT. 

by human sagacity,* is revealed to us ; that is to 
say, there Being a Holy Ghost or Spirit of God, 
this Holy Spirit does in some mysterious manner 
afford us the supply of strength which is needed, f 
" Our sufficiency is of God."+ '' It is God that 
worketh in us both to will and to do of His good 
pleasure."|| " No man can say that Jesus is the 
Lord, but by the Holy Ghost. "§ " Every good 
and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh 



* " We have not so much as heard whether there be any 
Holy Ghost." (Acts xix. 2.) 

t After the position of man had been altered by the sin of 
Adam, God gave the dispensation of Christianity as supple- 
mental to natural religion, which was now insufficient. For 
the establishment of this dispensation He suspended or altered 
the laws of nature, i. e. His own laws. To supply the wants 
then " of the whole creation groaning and travailing in pain,'* 
He who made the world exercised power thereon. Similarly 
having made the mind of man, He influences it, and so sup- 
plies its wants. 

We have seen above (note, p. 206) what Butler remarks in 
regard to the conscience : " Had it strength as it had right, 
had it power as it had manifest authority, it would absolutely 
govern the world.''^ Here then is implied the natural weakness 
of man — a truth indeed discoverable by mere human sagacity. 
Scripture however discloses the doctrine of Divine grace, the 
appointed remedy. Thus the speculations of philosophy may 
tend to prepare our minds for the reception of the Gospel ; 
and we have links connecting the things observed by men 
with the things revealed by God. 

X 2 Cor. iii. 5. II Phil. ii. 13. § 1 Cor. xii. 3. 



THE HOLY SPIRIT. 281 

down from the Father of lights."* Even in re- 
gard to knowledge St. Paul writes, "We have 
received the Spirit which is of God, that we 
might know the things that are freely given us 

of God. ... The natural man cannot know the 

things of the Spirit of God, because they are 
spiritually discerned."')* Accordingly on these 
and similar texts our Church builds her tenth 
Article : " The condition of man after the fall of 
Adam is such, that he cannot turn and prepare 
himself by his own natural strength and good 
works to faith and calling upon God : wherefore 
we have no power to do good works pleasant and 
acceptable to God without the grace of God by 
Christ preventing us, that we may have a good 
will, and working with us when we have that 
good will." What then is the trial herein implied ] 
Is it not this — Whether man will stubbornly 
resist, or suffer himself to be led by the Holy Spirit, 
and with ready obedience do what is proposed to 
him, in subordination to the divine influences'? 
Whether he will carry out to their accomplishment 
those principles, of which the first motion and 

* James i. 17. 

f 1 Cor. ii. 12 and 14. In connexion with this subject, it 
may be well to meditate upon the declaration of our Saviour, 
" If any man will do His will, he shall know of the doctrine 
whether it be of God." (John vii. 17.) 






282 THE HOLY^ SPIRIT. 

continued approbation and support are from God ] 
" Work out your own salvation (says St. Paul) 
with fear and trembling, for it is God that work- 
eth in you both to will and to do of His good 
pleasure."* There is good reason for ^' fear and 
trembling," for God may withdraw His divine 
aid, if proper use is not made of it ; if we are 
remiss and negligent, and thus provoke the Giver. 
Such withdrawal would be but agreeable to what 
is implied in the parable of the Talents, as well 
as expressly declared at the end of it : *' From 
him that hath not, shall be taken away even that 
which he hath."f Besides, not only does Holy 
Scripture inculcate a general principle respecting 
consequences which follow the neglect of God's 
good gifts ; not only does it warn us that there 
are various depths of alienation from our great 
Creator : but it especially contemplates that men 
may resist,:}: grieve,|| even quench§ the Divine 
Spirit in their hearts, of course by determined 
and stubborn opposition to His sanctifying in- 
fluences. 

Jeremy Taylor thus describes a state of spiri- 
tual hardness; " He that shall discourse Euclid's 
Elements to a swine, or preach (as Venerable 



* Phil. ii. 13. t Matth. xxvi. | Acts vii. 51. 

II Eph. iv. 30. § 1 Thess. v. 19. 



THE HOLY SPIRIT. 283 

Bede's story reports of him) to a rock, or talk meta- 
physics to a boar, will as much prevail upon his 
assembly as St. Peter and St. Paul could do upon 
uncircumcised hearts and ears, upon the indisposed 
Greeks and uncircumcised Jews. An ox will 
relish the tender flesh of kids with as much gust 
and appetite, as an unspiritual and unsanctified 
man will do the discourses of angels or of an 
apostle, if he should come to preach the secrets 
of the gospel. How many times doth God speak 
to us, by his servants the prophets, by His Son, 
by His apostles, by sermons, by spiritual books, 
by thousands of homilies, and arts of counsel and 
insinuation; and we sit as unconcerned as the 
pillars of a church, and hear the sermons as the 
Athenians did a story, or as we read a gazette." 

It has been seen that a person is moved by 
the preventing influence of the Holy Spuit to 
do the will of God. But it is the will of God 
that we should continually pray : and it is our 
especial duty to pray for the assistance of the 
Holy Spirit. God too has promised to grant the 
petitions of those who ask in His Son's name. 
When therefore moved by the Spirit, we thus 
pray for fresh supplies of spiritual strength, God 
no doubt will grant our prayers.* Moreover 

* See Luke xi. 13. 



284 THE HOLY SPIRIT. 

men are commanded duly to use the other ap- 
pointed means of obtaining grace : influenced by 
the Spirit, they obey these commands ; and so 
obtain new spiritual benefits. Thus then, the 
Spirit perpetually moving them to do those things 
by which they obtain additional grace, and their 
minds being ever intent upon spiritual improve- 
ment, they continually grow in grace.* All this 
again exactly coincides with what is conveyed 
in the parable of the Talents : " Unto every one 
that hath shall be given, and he shall have 
abundance." 

It is plain that on the one hand, the doctrines 
of Divine grace present an awful warning to the 
obstinately profligate: for if the Spirit after so 
much resistance be finally quenched within them, 
they have no power of their own to adopt 
principles and conduct acceptable to God; and 
therefore how shall they escape condemnation? 
So again on the other hand, these doctrines are 
full of comfort to men whose principles and be- 
haviour are in the main good, but who some- 
times, through human infirmity (for " in many 



* The doctrine of constant growth in grace is recognised 
in the Confirmation service of our Church : " Defend, O Lord, 
this thy child with thy heavenly grace ; that he may continue 
thine for ever, and daily increase in thy Holy Spirit more and 
more, until he coine unto thy everlasting kingdom." 



THE HOLY SPIRIT. 285 

things we oiFend all "*) are led astray from the 
clear line of duty. Such backslidings are as- 
suredly a cause of serious pain to those whose 
aim is perpetually to advance in the course of 
self-improvement; and who, after the example 
of St. Paul, " reach forth unto those things that 
are before, and press toward the mark for the 
prize of the high calling of God in Christ 
Jesus. "•[• On the occasion of such lapses, they 
are led to fear how far they may thus have 
become alienated from God, counted unworthy 
of their Christian profession, and liable to be 
deprived of that Divine grace, of which they 
so well understand the value. But though con- 
siderations of the doctrine of grace produce this 
pain, doubtless a salutary and it may be not an 
undeserved pain ; still further reflection and ex- 
perience tend to heal their wounds. Not only 
is there the general source of comfort, viz. that 
some allowance is made for human weakness, 
and that no man ever yet, save the man Jesus 
Christ, was perfect: but also particular conso- 
lation arises to particular individuals, from re- 
flections upon the doctrine of grace, the very 
source in which some of their sharpest pangs 
may have originated: for as they review their 

* James iii. 2. f Philip, iii- 13, 14. 



286 THE HOLY SPIRIT. 

past lives, they find that even after their back- 
sliding, they have been led to the performance 
of good actions, directed to the glory of God, 
with a deep sense of religion, and upon honest 
motives of faith in Christ and determined obe- 
dience. Now " we are not sufficient of ourselves 
to think anything as of ourselves : our sufficiency 
is of God."* " It is God that worketh in us 
both to will and to do of His good pleasure, "f 
Has the Spirit of God then altogether and for 
ever forsaken them, in consequence of a fault, 
though possibly a grievous onel Nay more, 
has not evidence been affi^rded of His subse- 
quent operation ] Considerations of religion thus 
bruise indeed for a time, but afterwards heal. 
They stimulate us for our good, and the good 
being wrought, console. Thus the medicines 
of a wise physician, though nauseous possibly 
to the taste, and weakening to the body, do 
nevertheless remove the disease : and so after 
a time enable the body to exert itself with 
increased vigour and energy. Both in matters 
concerning the soul and concerning the body of 
man, the dispensations are primarily from God : 
and therefore what wonder is it if they exhibit 
a close resemblance and analogy 1 

* 2 Cor. iii. 5. j Philip, ii. 13. 



THE HOLY SPIRIT. 287 

Say then that the Holy Spirit thus remains 
with a man : that though daily trespasses be 
committed, still the Spirit of God also perpetu- 
ally moves him, and he obeys those divine 
motions by the performance of good works : say 
that his faith and love are thus evinced, and that 
he ever desires, though he be never able actually 
to reach perfection, and so the Spirit is with him 
to his death : it is worth while to observe what 
are the expressions of Scripture respecting such 
a person. He is said to be sealed with the 
Spirit unto the day of redemption:* to have the 
earnest of the Spirit :f "Ye were sealed with 
that Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest 
of our inheritance, until the redemption of the 
purchased possession. "J " God hath also sealed 
us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our 
hearts." || 

To revert again to what has been said above. § 
All this doctrine of spiritual assistance is mys- 
terious ; i. e. our unassisted natural reason is not 
able to shew us anything at all about the matter. 
" The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou 
hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell 
whence it cometh and whither it goeth: so is 
every one that is born of the Spirit."^ It is our 

* Eph. iv. 30. t 2 Cor. v. 5. { Eph. i. 14. 

II 2 Cor. i. 22. § B. iv. c. i. & iii. IF John iii. 8. 



288 THE HOLY SPIRIT. 

duty to believe the doctrine because it is revealed: 
and herein is a trial of our faith. This too is in 
unison v^ith those other dealings of God to man 
which may be termed mysterious. Neither, if 
we consider the reasons which have been men- 
tioned above, is it calculated to excite surprise. 

It may be remarked further, that Christians 
have no reason whatever to expect that the 
ordinary operations of the Holy Ghost should be 
marked by any vehemently exciting movements, 
or as it were sudden gusts of passion and desire ; 
as enthusiasts are apt to fancy. Such symptoms 
are probably rather the eiFects of an overheated 
or distempered imagination. The work of the 
Spirit is shewn by its fruits; "love, joy, peace, 
long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meek- 
ness, temperance."* 

* Gal. V. 22. 



( 289 ) 



CHAPTER V. 



OF TRUST IN GOD, 



It may be well at this stage briefly to consider, 
what indeed has heretofore been touched upon, 
viz. the important principle of trust in God. 

As regards the first dispensation, previous to 
the fall of Adam, man, being the work of a per- 
fect Being of almighty power, infinite wisdom, 
essential justice, would naturally be suited to his 
circumstances, and capable of accomplishing the 
objects, and obeying the law, which he was 
destined to accomplish and to obey. Either then 
at his first creation, or subsequently in the course 
of events, as occasion required, power would be 
given him to act suitably to any position in 
which he might be placed, and thus to fulfil his 
destiny. The character therefore of the Creator, 
and the relation begun by creation, and continu- 
ally recognised in a kind preservation, might 
shew to man a sure foundation of trust in God. 

But, as we have seen, the ties of the first dis- 
pensation were broken. By transgression man 

u 



290 OF TRUST IN jGOD. 

placed himself in a situation of unnatural alie- 
nation from God. Where was now his title to 
favour and protection 1 

"What would be the operation of principles'? 
Antecedently to all knowledge of Christianity, 
would a sincere conviction of sin lead to the 
conclusion, that God was made our implacable 
enemy] Or even that the connexion between 
God and man was so utterly dissolved, that it 
could on no terms be renewed 1 On no conditions 
could He condescend to shew us favour '? On no 
principles to consider us again as His ownl 

If such propositions were asserted, it is certain 
they could not be proved. Those who asserted 
them would be presuming to judge without suf- 
ficient evidence. What if the sin of man, such 
as he is, related to God such as God is^ merits 
punishment, and it is altogether proper and 
necessary that man should be punished, have 
we any means of determining the severity of the 
retribution? Are there no degrees of punish- 
ment "? None which may be called secondary 
and inferior ? 

But if we considered what we had observed 
of the ordinary course of nature, how would the 
case stand then"? Bishop Butler may again en- 
lighten us upon this point. "We may observe, 
somewhat much to the present purpose, in the 



OF TRUST IN GOD. 291 

constitution of nature, or appointments of Pro- 
vidence, the provision which is made, that all 
the bad natural consequences of men's actions 
should not always actually follow ; or that such 
bad consequences as, according to the settled 
course of things, would inevitably have followed, 
if not prevented, should in certain degrees be 
prevented. We are apt presumptuously to ima- 
gine, that the world might have been so consti- 
tuted, as that there would not have been any 
such thing as misery or evil. On the contrary, 
we find the Author of Nature permits it ; but 
then He has provided reliefs, and in many cases 
perfect remedies for it, after some pains and dif- 
ficulties ; reliefs and remedies even for that evil 
which is the fruit of our own misconduct ; and 
which in the course of nature would have con- 
tinued and ended in our destruction, but for 
such remedies. And this is an instance both of 
severity and of indulgence in the constitution of 
nature. Thus all the bad consequences, now 
mentioned, of a man's trifling upon a precipice, 
might be prevented. And though all were not, 
some of them might, by proper interposition if 
not rejected; by another's coming to the rash 
man's relief, with his own laying hold on that 
relief, in such sort as the case required. Persons 
may do a great deal themselves towards prevent- 

u2 



292 OF TRUST IN* GOD. 

ing the bad consequences of their follies; and 
more may be done by themselves, together with 
the assistance of others their fellow-creatures; 
which assistance nature requires and prompts us 

to. This is the general constitution of the world. 

* * * « * # 

" That provision is made by nature, that we may 
and do to so great a degree prevent the bad 
natural effects of our follies : this may be called 
mercy or compassion in the original constitution 
of the world ; compassion, as distinguished from 
goodness in general. And the whole known con- 
stitution and course of things, affording us in- 
stances of such compassion, it would be according 
to the analogy of nature to hope, that, however 
ruinous the natural consequences of vice might 
be, from the general laws of God's government 
over the universe ; yet provision might be made, 
possibly might originally have been made, for 
preventing those ruinous consequences from in- 
evitably following; at least from following uni- 
versally, and in all cases."* 

But again : after the fall of Adam, a man living 
in the world, though ignorant of revelation, might 
still observe that God preserves and sustains men, 
giving them fruitful seasons and rain from heaven ; 

* Butler's Anal., Part ii. c. v. 



OF TRUST IN GOD. 293 

and thus the Almighty not only created us, but 
also supplies us with things good and suitable 
to our condition. It might be remarked too, 
that reason, God's light within us, continually 
directs bur path : even among heathen nations, 
though in a variety of ways altogether sinful 
before God, there were yet eminent teachers of 
morality and virtue : there was exhibited in 
many cases an ardent love of truth, justice, be- 
nevolence. Consider only the minds of Homer, 
^schylus, Euripides, Sophocles, Plato, Virgil, 
Cicero. Is it possible to conceive that such men, 
or even those who profited by their instructions, 
could be utterly hateful and abominable in the 
sight of God 1 

Moreover, if we look at various relations of 
human life, which are evidently types and repre- 
sentations however inadequate of the relation 
between God and man, we perceive that a fault 
or delinquency on the part of an inferior is not 
necessarily followed by a dissolution of the con- 
nexion between him and his superior. This 
indeed may be the extreme result of many and 
great offences ; still it is preceded by admonitions, 
rebukes, strong remonstrances, all sorts of second- 
ary punishments. Consider the most remarkable 
and conspicuous representations of the relation 
between God and man. What forbearance, readi- 



294 OF TRUST IN GOD. 

ness to pardon, compassion, considerate kindness, 
indulgence, is continually exhibited by a parent 
to even a wayward child ! How patiently does 
he abide the day of reformation. The parable of 
the prodigal son strongly affects our minds. And 
why ] Because it is so true to nature. 

Thus then, though sensitive minds may be apt 
to imagine that sin has broken off the connexion 
between God and man, still let us remember that 
this is but an imagination unsupported by proof. 
On the other hand, the truth of Butler's remarks 
and their bearing upon the question are mani- 
fest : God's continual preservation of man, too, is 
an evidence that in spite of sin the connexion is 
not severed ; and this evidence is strengthened 
by examples of human virtue prior to the know- 
ledge of Christianity: as has been seen in the 
earlier part of this volume, we acknowledge the 
law of nature written in our hearts; and how 
would God give a law to those from whom He 
was utterly severed] Moreover we continually 
see types of the relation between God and 
man: becoming acquainted with the course of 
nature, i. e. the divine economy and government, 
under certain circumstances, we are hence led 
to hope that it may be similar in other circum- 
stances which are the antitype. On the whole 
therefore, thus free from preliminary objections, 



OF TRUST IN GOD. 295 

and prepared gladly to admit whatever may con- 
firm our natural and not unreasonable desires, 
we at length proceed to the consideration of 
what is revealed. 

Admitting revelation then, we apply its doc- 
trines as a test by which to try the principle of 
confidence in God. Accordingly, being in a state 
of repentance and (in spite of the objection derived 
from sin) of covenant with God through Christ, 
we find that we have now a new title on which 
to trust in God. 

For the question at issue depends simply upon 
this. What are the terms of the covenant '? Now 
in the first place Scripture confirms what is ac- 
knowledged by our natural conscience, and re- 
presents God as a Lawgiver and King. Not 
only feeling therefore that the connexion is not 
severed, but being assured by authority that we 
are His subjects and servants, we hence derive 
principles of trust. For lawgivers and kings do, 
according to the ordinary course of human affairs, 
protect and defend their subjects. When such 
a relation was exhibited in Scripture as that 
between God and man, it must have been de- 
signed that we should derive our apprehensions 
of the relation from what we observe in the daily 
intercourse of mankind. But in addition to what 
we are taught by our natural faculties, God is 



296 OF TRUST IN GOD. 

frequently represented to us in the New Tes- 
tament under the character of a Father, a recon- 
ciled Father it is true, still a Father : not as if 
the connexion was, or might easily be, broken 
off; on the contrary, it is expressly and emphati- 
cally marked, " Our Father, which art in hea- 
ven": and surely redemption from the worst of 
slaveries, that of sin, by great suffering and 
humiliation was especially paternal. The re- 
lation then eminently justifies confidence. Chil- 
dren trust and must trust their parents. It is the 
law of Providence given them to obey. They do 
it naturally, and as it were instinctively. But 
again, these ordinary notions of what a Father 
would probably do for His children, are con- 
firmed by express invitations, exhortations, and 
promises of Scripture, on which, as we beheve 
the truth of God, we may confidently rely. Lastly 
we have practical experience (as indeed in some 
measure, agreeably to our former remarks, had 
even the heathen), how God actually does deal 
with men ; how He sustains and preserves that 
world and those creatures whom He made and 
redeemed : and we know also what He has done 
and still does for us in regard to our spiritual 
welfare. In these respects, therefore, He not only 
fulfils all expectations which may have been held 
out; but such fulfilment affords additional evi- 
dence on which to trust Him for the future. 



OF TRUST IN GOD. 297 

Confidence in God, then, is a great principle 
of human conduct. It is altogether fit and right 
that we should entertain and cherish this prin- 
ciple: and it leads to the most salutary and 
beneficial results, i. e, the tranquillizing and con- 
firming our minds amid the pains and difiiculties 
of life, and the casting our care upon Him who 
is both able and willing to bear it. 



( 298. ) 



CHAPTER VI. 

CONSIDERATIONS RESPECTING THE FUTURE 
JUDGMENT. 

We have seen that the certainty of a Future 
Judgment is established by evidence of an irre- 
sistible character. But the duration of this life 
is short and uncertain, and the future involves the 
consideration of eternity ; " the things which are 
seen are temporal, but the things which are not 
seen are eternal."* The mind of man, therefore, 
being fully impressed with a sense of religion and 
of the immeasurable importance of future as com- 
pared with all present objects, is naturally prone 
to propose to itself the following questions : first, 
What will be the exact rule and measure by which 
the ultimate award will be determined at the day 
of judgment] secondly. What will be the nature 
of that happiness and misery which shall be as- 
signed to the righteous and the wicked respec- 
tively ] 

* 2 Cor. iv. 18. 



THE FUTURE JUDGMENT. 299 

We are thus perhaps sometimes led curiously 
to pry into minute details, and to require more 
specific information than has been afforded. 

With respect to such particulars, the know- 
ledge of heathen nations was, as we have seen, 
none, or next to none. They had but an indis- 
tinct perception of the truth of there being a 
future judgment at all. Though the compara- 
tively bright light of revelation has shone upon 
us, still see what St. Paul himself writes in regard 
to the imperfection of that light, "Now we see 
through a glass darkly." The whole passage, in 
which he looks forward to the full development 
of the counsels of God, is the following: "We 
know in part, and we prophesy in part. But 
when that which is perfect is come, then that 
which is in part shall be done away. When I 
was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as 
a child, I thought as a child : but when I became 
a man, I put away childish things. For now we 
see through a glass darkly; but then face to 
face: now I know in part; but then shall I 
know, even as also I am known."* 

So then our knowledge in regard to the future 
is more than was given to the heathen, less than 
will hereafter be given to us. 

* 1 Cor. xiii. 



300 THE FUTURE .JUDGMENT. 

Accordingly, whatever may be our wish to 
understand precise details, God has not thought 
fit to grant more than the knowledge of certain 
grand general principles ; with the exact working 
out and issues of which we shall not be fully 
acquainted in the present life. Since this is the 
scheme appointed by God, we may be well as- 
sured that it is a wise and good scheme. On the 
one hand indeed it is perfectly right that we 
should, with all humility and reverence, endea- 
vour fully to understand and appreciate whatever 
God has taught us either by reason or revelation. 
Yet, on the other hand, if it be clear that He 
designs us at present to remain in a state of 
comparative ignorance even in regard to matters 
of great importance, it is our business contentedly 
to acquiesce in this as in all other arrangements 
of Providence. We must accommodate ourselves 
to our position ; repress what, after an intimation 
of design on God's part, might be termed im- 
modest and impertinent curiosity in us; not 
distract our minds and waste our energies, by 
giving scope to a restless imagination and aim- 
ing at things unattainable ; but diligently attend 
to the discharge of our duties. Be the ultimate 
issues and consequences of things what they may, 
where we have no control we have no responsi- 
bility: accordingly we cannot say that we in 



THE FUTURE JUDGMENT. 301 

reality need this bright light and knowledge 
which we are so apt to crave. Our duties, how- 
ever, lie plainly in our path, and are quite suf- 
ficient to claim all the power and demand the 
whole zeal of man. 

The Deity then, while He always affords us 
clear knowledge for the guidance of our conduct 
as moral agents, has given us that light which He 
has given, and no more, in regard to our des- 
tiny as immortal beings. This arrangement is 
not only, no doubt, wise and good because it is 
His arrangement ; but it is also altogether similar 
to the dispensation under which man finds him- 
self placed, if he looks merely to the usual pro- 
gress of temporal affairs, and the conduct proper 
for him to adopt with reference to such affairs. 
How continually, as moral agents, are we placed 
in situations, in which we see that various prin- 
ciples will operate, some perhaps counteracting 
the efiicacy of others, others assisting and in- 
creasing the energy of these latter: though we 
distinctly perceive that the whole result of things 
will depend upon the operation of such principles, 
yet our faculties will not enable us to determine 
with what amount of power each will work ; and 
we are consequently unable to foresee what will 
be the precise effect produced. It is time alone 
which at length develops the event. Meanwhile 



302 THE FUTURE .JUDGMENT. 

we have usually light enough to guide our con- 
duct. We see pretty plainly what is the path 
of duty. Accordingly our uncertainty as to re- 
sults need not in reality embarrass and fetter our 
actions. 

More particularly in regard to the satisfactions 
and enjoyments which, it is supposed, will arise 
from the attainment of certain objects after that 
attainment has been effected. We are convinced 
it may be, generally, that such and such temporal 
objects are worthy of pursuit, good. But though 
we follow the course of action necessary for the 
attainment, still we cannot see beforehand the 
exact nature of the good to be obtained, the 
whole amount of pleasure, the precise quantity 
of what may be termed alloy, inseparable from 
all earthly enjoyments. These things can only 
be thoroughly known by experience ; though in 
the mean time we have general principles of suf- 
ficient power to direct our conduct. Similarly 
the more particular details of a future state are 
concealed from our minds ; yet enough is shewn 
to regulate our behaviour. 

Again, if more light was given, who shall say 
that the roving imagination of man would not 
still be disposed to pry beyond the knowledge 
vouchsafed, and to thirst for more than the 
Creator had thought fit to grant 1 If knowledge 



THE FUTURE JUDGMENT. 303 

be not unbounded, why should a restless mind 
be satisfied with one limit rather than another 1 
But in truth, on what ground do we complain of 
God for not giving clearer light than He has 
given, any more than for not having made us in 
other respects different from what He has made 
us ? For not having furnished us with wings, as 
He has the birds, to carry us through the airl 
For not having endowed our bodies with the 
strength of the lion, or our feet with the swift- 
ness of the horse ] 

All this however is mere trifling. For, instead 
of having just causes of complaint, we have in- 
numerable arguments for gratitude. 

Nevertheless, what may tend further to repress 
vain longings, or at all events to console men 
(if they need consolation) under the want of 
brighter light, is this, viz. that as is knowledge, 
so is responsibility. The faculties we possess, 
the knowledge we acquire may be considered as 
instruments by which we are placed on our moral 
trial. As the instruments vary, so does the nature 
of the trial. If we had more light than we have, 
such trial would be different from what it is. It 
has pleased God to subject us to that to which 
He has subjected us, assuredly upon such prin- 
ciples as are suitable to His glorious character, 
though they be concealed from us. Undoubtedly 



304 THE FUTURE .JUDGMENT. 

if we gave the reins to our fancy, we might 
suppose that ideas of future misery or hap- 
piness might be impressed upon our minds 
in more vivid or even glaring characters than 
any of which we have experience; the various 
effects of particular transgressions might be re- 
presented to us much more forcibly than they 
are : more specific details of the proceedings 
at the day of judgment might possibly be 
exhibited to our view. But if this were done, 
more might reasonably be expected from us 
in the eyes of a just Judge. Just as more 
may be expected from us as a class and body 
of men, than from heathen nations : more 
again from those among us who have had the 
advantages of leisure and learning, than from 
those to whom such opportunities have been 
denied. Thus our Saviour Himself confirms 
what is dictated by the natural sense of justice 
inherent in mankind : " That servant which 
knew his Lord's w^ill, and prepared not himself, 
neither did according to His will, shall be beaten 
with many stripes. But he that knew not, and 
did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be 
beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever 
much is given, of him shall be much required."* 

♦ Luke xii. 47. See also Matth. xi. 21, 22, 



THE FUTURE JUDGMENT. 305 

On grounds such as these then, cheerfully 
acquiescing in the concealment that is ordained 
by God, still let us remember certain great prin- 
ciples, of which the knowledge is granted. Let 
us indeed abstain from endeavouring to intrude 
(which after all would be but a vain attempt) 
into what is intended to be secret, and from 
assuming (which would be bold irreverence, and 
would exhibit a mind tinctured with falsehood) 
what we are not justified in assuming: let us 
however take heed to understand, and accept, 
and carefully apply what is given: let us ever 
bear in mind, that our trial, though not accord- 
ing to what we have not, is according to what 
w^e have ; of which therefore it behoves us duly 
to avail ourselves. 

The important question then is this : It being 
supposed that a man sincerely wishes to be al- 
lowed a share in the benefits of Christ's death, 
and to obtain the favour of God at the day of 
judgment, what ought to be his principles and 
his practice in the present life ] 

We will confine ourselves to a brief statement 
of certain general principles. 

In the first place, since man is naturally prone 
to sin, and actually does sin, Eepentance is 
necessary. " I shall use no other arguments 
(writes Jeremy Taylor) to move a sinner to 



306 THE FUTURE JUDGMENT. 

repentance, but to tell him unless he does he 
shall certainly perish ; and if he does repent 
timely and entirely, that is live a holy life, he 
shall be forgiven and be saved." He then de- 
clares that the admission of mankind to repent- 
ance* and pardon was a favour greater than ever 
God gave to the angels and devils : he enlarges 
upon the sufferings of Christ, endured to give us 
an opportunity of repentance ; upon His prayers, 
and the joy felt " in heaven over one sinner that 
repenteth:" he represents the glorious rewards 
of heaven, the lightness of Christ's burden, the 
easiness of His yoke : and " If these motives (he 
concludes), joined together with our own interest 
even as much as felicity, and the sight of God, 
and the avoiding the intolerable pains of hell and 
many intermedial judgments come to, will not 



* It may be observed, that the doctrine of God being will- 
ing to receive penitent sinners, can only be known by reve- 
lation. If God has a right to the devoted obedience of our 
whole lives, and we at any time defraud Him of a part thereof, 
our natural powers can give us no assurance that sorrow for 
«in and resolutions of amendment will cancel the account of 
the past. In the common course of human affairs, a deter- 
mination to contract no new debts, will not wipe away exist- 
ing obligations. " The doctrine of the Gospel (says Butler) 
appears to be, not only that Christ taught the efficacy of re- 
pentance, but rendered it of the efficacy which it is by what 
He did and suffered for us." 



THE FUTURE JUDGMENT. 307 

move us to leave (1) the filthiness, and (2) the 
trouble, and (3) the uneasiness, and (4) the un- 
reasonableness of sin, and turn to God, there is 
no more to be said: we must perish in our folly.' 
Again, Faith is indispensable. For this our 
Saviour continually trains the minds of men, by 
insisting upon faith before He performs His 
miracles. Thus to the woman of Canaan He 
exclaims, " Great is thy faith, be it unto thee 
even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made 
whole from that very hour."* So again to His 
disciples, " If ye had faith as a grain of mustard- 
seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree. Be 
thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted 
in the sea, and it should obey you."*!* Thus to 
the woman who had touched Him, '' Daughter, 
be of good comfort, thy faith hath made thee 
whole." J "And when Jesus heard it, He 
answered him, saying. Fear not ; beheve only, 
and she shall be made whole."|| Here is, at all 
events, a preparation to receive such texts as the 
following : " Thomas, because thou hast seen Me, 
thou hast believed: blessed are they that have 
not seen and yet have believed. "§ " With the 
heart man believeth unto righteousness."^ " This 

* Matth. XV. 28. t Luke xvii. 6. J Ibid. viii. 48. 
II Luke viii. 50. § John xx. 29. If Rom. x. 10. 

x2 



308 THE FUTURE XUDGMENT. 

is His commandment, that we should believe in 
the name of His Son Jesus Christ."* But the 
whole of the New Testament abounds in passages 
inculcating the necessity of faith. 

Faith, however, shewing itself by works is 
required. " Good works, which are the fruits 
of faith, .... do spring out necessarily of a true 
and lively faith, insomuch that by them a lively 
faith may be as evidently known as a tree dis- 
cerned by the fruit."-!* ^^* J^i^^s tells us, " Faith 
without works is dead." " The devils believe and 
tremble." But " I will shew thee my faith by 
my works. "J Accordingly, St. Paul has the 
comprehensive expression, " Faith that worketh 
by love. "I I As if the mind being convinced of 
certain truths, as the creation, preservation, and 
redemption of men, and therefore cherishing 
proper feelings of gratitude and love, should 
thence be induced to work, to obey God's law, 
to do whatever it might conceive acceptable in 
His sight. But Faith, Hope, and Charity are 
given by St. Paul as great principles of human 
conduct.§ Now though "the greatest of these 
is charity" or love, still it is altogether a portion 
of the spirit of Scripture, that to the idea of faith 



* 1 John iii. 23. f Article xii. of our Church. 

J James ii. || Gal. v. 6. § 1 Cor. xiii. 13. 



THE FUTURE JUDGMEMT. 309 

working by love we join what would be conveyed 
in the notion of faith working by hope.* For 



* Our minds are duly prepared to entertain the ideas of 
faith working by love, and faith working by hope: for we 
have already recognised the sense of duty and the desire of 
happiness as rational principles of human action. See note, 
p. 184. 

St. James tells us, " The devils believe and tremble." Here 
is faith indeed and fear, but despair. " Despair (remarks 
Taylor) belongs only to passionate fools or villains (such as 
were Ahithophel and Judas), or else to devils and damned per- 
sons." A man, however, who has been leading a wicked life 
is sometimes moved to reflection by severe pain. He shrinks 
from suffering, and for consolation betakes himself (suppose) 
to rehgion. The first struggles of his mind include possibly 
a mixture of fear and hope. Fear is perhaps the stronger : 
and his hope is not so much to obtain the good as to avoid the 
evil. We easily comprehend the notion of faith working by 
fear. In course of time suppose him to progress, so that faith 
working by hope may at length be considered the characteristic 
principle. In endeavouring to obey God*s commands, he will 
earnestly pray for the Holy Spirit, for such prayer is part of 
this obedience. Conceive him then to obtain fresh supplies 
of grace. We know that the fruit of the Spirit is love, 
(Gal. V. 22). Accordingly he may thus advance to a state 
of faith working by love. In Scripture we read of faithful 
servants of God : " Well done, thou good and faithful ser- 
vant," (Matth. XXV. 21). But there is a higher elevation than 
this, the love of sons. In a future state we may ascend still 
further : for faith shall be exchanged for knowledge, and the 
spirits of just men shall be perfected. (Hebr. xii. 23.) 

It has been seen (note, p. 184) that though we consider 
" regard to our good on the whole" and " regard to duty" as 



310 THE FUTURE JUDGMENT. 

the mind being assured that there shall hereafter 
be a day of judgment, would naturally cherish 
feelings of hope ; would so be induced to work, 
looking to the " things which are not seen: for 
the things which are seen are temporal, but the 
things which are not seen are eternal."* 



rational principles in man, still when we speak with philoso- 
phical accuracy we must exhibit their distinguishing features. 
Nevertheless, agreeably to what has been just said, it would 
seem that a man who really acts upon the lower principle may 
in due time proceed to the full recognition of the higher. 
Human life is indeed a school of discipline. The mind of man 
experiences continual transitions, and is thus gradually purified 
and perfected. 

It seems therefore unwise to discourage men's minds by 
unnecessarily disparaging the lower principle. Thus I con- 
ceive it might be better not to speak of it as " a low mercenary 
species of virtue," or of a man " being bribed to do his duty.*' 
(See Reid.) According to common usage, these terms convey 
a harsh meaning. Scripture, being intended for general edi- 
fication, holds out motives which may be effectual upon 
men of different temperaments and various shades of moral 
feeling ; and it seems but right that such motives should fairly 
and without prejudice operate upon the minds of those to 
whom they are addressed. 

Even when a man has ascended to the high principle of 
zealous love to God, and thereon has founded his obedience, 
it is still a source of satisfaction and joy to reflect that he is 
thus promoting his own true happiness. These reflections too 
are an additional guarantee for his obedience. Imperfect crea- 
tures may well acquiesce, or rather rejoice in such security. 
* 2 Cor. iv. 18. 



THE FUTURE JUDGMENT. 311 

Good works are continually enjoined in Scrip- 
ture. But from the very nature of the case faith 
is understood. " Without faith it is impossible 
to please God : for he that cometh to God must 
believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of 
them that diligently seek Him."* If he believes 
not that God is, how can he come unto Plim? 
Cornelius was " a devout man and one that feared 
God with all his house, which gave much alms 
to the people, and prayed to God alway."j* 
Though brought up as a Gentile, he had im- 
bibed right ideas of the character of the Deity, 
and he shewed his faith by his acts. So St. James 
says, " Was not Abraham our father justified by 
works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon 
the altar V And presently afterwards, " Abraham 
believed God, and it was imputed unto him for 
righteousness. "J 

In the words of Burnet, we must " receive 
Christ as a Prophet to teach, and a King to 
rule, as well as a Priest to save us." His law 
includes a repetition of the law of nature. Obey- 
ing the commands of Christ we shew tokens of 
our faith in Him. Again, " Does not the duty," 
asks Butler, " of religious regards to the Son and 
to the Spirit immediately arise to the view of 

* Heb. xi. 6. f Acts. x. 2. | James ii. 



312 THE FUTURE JUDGMENT. 

reason out of tke very nature of their offices and 
relations" to men 1 These rehgious regards then, 
" reverence, honour, love, trust, gratitude, fear, 
hope,"* imply faith in vrhat is revealed. With- 
out faith they cannot even exist. Positive pre- 
cepts too are delivered in Scripture. When 
persons are baptized, when the Supper of the 
Lord is received, -j- the commands of Christ are 
obeyed, and to this obedience faith is a necessary 
preliminary. 

" The Spirit helpeth our infirmities. "J " What- 
soever we do in word or deed," St. Paul bids us 
" do all in the name of the Lord Jesus."||. He 
enjoins us also to "do all to the glory of God."§ 
"We believe in God, we believe also in Christ."^ 
However, " No man can say that Jesus is the 
Lord, but by the Holy Ghost."** Again, '' He 
that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life; 
and he that believeth not the Son shall not see 
life; but the wrath of God abideth on him."*}"!" 



* Butler'^s Anal., Part. ii. chap. i. See the whole chapter. 

t In the Catechism of our Church, Baptism and the Supper 
of the Lord are considered as " generally necessary to salva- 
tion." An account is also given of benefits conveyed. 

J Rom. viii. 26. See above,. Book iv. chap. 4. 

II Col. iii. 17. § 1 Cor. x. 31. IF John xiv. 1. 

** 1 Cor. xii. 3. ff John iii. 36. 



THE FUTURE JUDGMENT. 313 

" Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, 
he cannot enter into the kingdom of God."* 

The propositions which Scripture requires us 
to believe are of course supported by sufficient 
evidence. It has been the main design of this 
treatise to investigate the principles which teach 
us to appreciate moral evidence. A moral cer- 
tainty is a proper object of faith. We have seen 
that in the whole course of their daily conduct, 
men believing that certain things have been, are, 
will be, are thence by love and hope led to action. 
This is the dispensation given by God to man. 
There is a trial even in temporal matters, whether 
man will believe as he ought : when he has be- 
lieved, whether he will do as he ought. For ex- 
ample, look to the operation of principles connected 
vrith the social duties of mankind. Consider the 

* John iii. 5. In our Catechism children are taught to 
declare that in the articles of the Apostle's Creed they chiefly 
learn — 

(1) To believe in God the Father, Who hath made them 
and all the world. 

(2) In God the Son, Who hath redeemed them and all 
mankind. 

(3) In God the Holy Ghost, Who sanctifieth them and all 
the elect people of God. 

With respect to the doctrines herein asserted or implied, 
and with respect to the Creeds generally, consult, among other 
works, Tomline's Elements of Christian Theology and th€ 
notes in Mant's Prayer-Book. 



314 THE FUTURE /UDGMENT. 

relation of a child to a parent, and the motives of 
filial duty and affection. A son in the first place 
acknowledges certain truths. He believes that 
such a relation as is said to exist, does in reality 
exist between him and his parent; he is con- 
vinced also (say) that his father has been at great 
trouble, pains, and expense in his maintenance, 
instruction, and promotion in life; he is aware 
likewise of his parent's strong affection ; and thus 
he returns the tribute of love and obedience 
which is due to a great benefactor. He shews 
the sincerity of his feelings by his acts : and so 
again we have faith w^orking by love. All this 
is fit, suitable to the relation of the persons. 
Again, if a man goes on an embassy to the 
emperor of China, he must at least believe that 
such a potentate exists; else how can he with 
any reason go to him ] But in truth he believes 
this, and much more. And when men eat, drink, 
ride, walk, dig, sow, reap, build houses, buy 
property, do any thing, they believe that certain 
things have been, or are, and that such and such 
results will or may follow their actions. " Faith 
(says Jeremy Taylor) makes the merchant dili- 
gent and venturous, and that makes him rich. 
Ferdinando of Arragon believed the story told 
him by Columbus, and therefore he furnished 
him with ships, and got the West Indies by his 



THE FUTURE JUDGMENT. 315 

faith in the undertaking. But Henry the Seventh 
of England believed him not; and therefore 
trusted him not with shipping, and lost all the 
purchase of that faith." Accordingly we perceive 
that the untaught savage may even now shew 
faith by deeds* though ignorant of Christianity. 
Christianity indeed proposes new objects of faith: 
still faith may be exercised independently of 
Scripture: the savage therefore, believing and 
feeling as he ought, may on any given occasion 
act properly with reference to his whole position, 
and to the light which he has. He may act 
even as did Cornehus upon high principles of 
religion. But Christ has made " a full, perfect, 
and sufficient sacrifice, oblation, and satisfaction 
for the sins of the whole world." Who then 
shall say that the behaviour of a savage, right 
perhaps in the main though imperfect, may not,, 
even at the day of judgment, be mercifully esti- 
mated by Him, who will require from man ac- 
cording to what he had, and not according to 
what he had not '?f 

* See p. 174. 

f It is not in truth our province to judge, how far the 
benefits of the Christian dispensation may be extended to 
those who have not known it. Even in regard to the con- 
dition of our neighbours and friends, it behoves us to be very 
cautious in drawing any conclusions ; to consider by what 
authority, and for what purposes we undertake to judge at all ; 



316 THE FUTURE JUDGMENT. 

Accordingly, when Scripture declares that 
God requires a lively and active faith, we perceive 
that this is not a mere positive appointment of 
the Christian dispensation; but it involves a 
principle exhibited to man antecedently to any 
written revelation, and operating with universal 
efficacy in all the affairs of human life. Eeligion 
extends the principle, and leads us from temporal 
things to the things that are eternal. According 
to Heid, "joy and sorrow, hope and fear imply 
a belief of good or ill, either present or in ex- 
pectation. Esteem, gratitude, pity, and resent- 
ment imply a belief of certain qualities in their 
objects. In every action that is done for an end 
there must be a belief of its tendency to that end. 
So large a share has belief in our intellectual 
operations, in our active principles, and in our 
actions themselves, that as faith in things divine 

and to recollect the imperfection of our own knowledge and 
faculties. 

Perhaps no two cases are entirely like, and nfen's spiritual 
conditions may vary as much as the features and expression 
of their countenances. Our wisdom then will be shewn in 
attending to what we know best, and what directly concerns 
us, our own case. 

Accordingly, when our Saviour is asked (Luke xiii. 23) 
"Lord are there few that be saved?" He gives no direct 
answer ; but urges what is calculated to impress on the in- 
quirer the necessity of minding his own business, and taking 
care that he be not found among " the workers of iniquity." 



THE FUTURE JUDGMENT. 317 

is represented as the mainspring in the life of a 
Christian, so belief in general is the mainspring 
in the life of a man." Thus our ordinary ex- 
perience duly prepares and trains our minds. 
We observe three conditions of man: we con- 
template him as merely engaged in temporal 
affairs, and connected with his fellow-men; as 
a religious being unenlightened by Christianity ; 
as a well-instructed Christian: and in all these 
relations, and in their results, we find that there 
is evidently implied one and the same leading 
principle. 

Our trials in this life have various stages, in 
any of which we may fail or succeed. Belief is 
a mental act. in regard to which we are respon- 
sible. Again, we may or may not direct our 
conduct suitably to our belief Further, we 
may or may not persevere to the end. Such is 
our condition both in regard to what are called 
temporal interests, and also with reference to 
what we at once acknowledge to be immediately 
connected with the considerations of a future 
state. These trials naturally imply hazard and 
danger. " Had we not experience (observes 
Butler) it might perhaps speciously be urged, 
that it is improbable that any kind of hazard and 
danger should be put upon us by an infinite 
Being; when every thing which is hazard and 



318 THE FUTURE JJJDGMENT. 

danger in our manner of conception, and will end 
in error, confusion, and misery, is now already 
certain in His foreknowledge. And indeed why 
anything of hazard and danger should be put 
upon such frail creatures as we are, may well be 
thought a difficulty in speculation; and cannot 
but be so, until we know the whole, or however 
much more of the case. But still the constitution 
of nature is as it is."* The principles to be fully 
recognised and carried out at the day of judg- 
ment, are those of which we continually see 
indications in the course of nature as at present 
established. No complaint can lie against the 
Lawgiver in regard to the principle of His dis- 
pensation: it may be easily conceived that we 
simply know not all the circumstances which 
made such a dispensation, what it no doubt is 
seeing from whom it proceeded, altogether fit 
and proper to be established. 

When we consider the purity of God's law, 
and the account hereafter to be given, our hearts, 
conscious of errors, faults, delinquencies, back- 
slidings, are apt to be dismayed. Yet the dis- 
pensation was intended for creatures fallible and 
frail as men. 

On the whole then, what view may we reason- 

* Butler's Anal. Part. i. c. iv. See above pp. 172, 173. 



THE FUTURE JUDGMENT. 319 

ably take of our position ] Though God be gra- 
cious, merciful, long-suffering ; yet is it not clear 
from the whole tenor of Scripture, that there is 
some amount of sin, some degree of malice, which 
may cut us off entirely from His favour? For the 
Holy Spirit may, as we have seen, be quenched : 
a restoration may thus be rendered impossible, 
for without the Spirit we can do nothing : and so 
we may be left naked and undefended at the day of 
account. Jeremy Taylor writes thus in regard 
to the day of judgment: " If now the anger of 
God make such terrible eruptions upon the wicked 
people that delight in sin, how great may we 
suppose that anger to be, how severe that judg- 
ment, how terrible that vengeance, how intolerable 
those inflictions, which God reserves for the full 
effusion of indignation on the great day of ven- 
geance." " For so did the Libyan lion, that 

was brought up under discipline, and taught to 
endure blows, and eat the meat of order and 
regular provision, and to suffer gentle usages and 
the familiarities of societies : but once he brake 
out into his own wilderness, " Dedidicit pacem 
subito feritate re versa," and killed two Roman 
boys. But those that forage in the Libyan 
mountains, tread down and devour all that they 
meet or master ; and when they have fasted two 
days, lay up an anger great as is their appetite, 



820 THE FUTURE J^UDGMENT. 

and bring certain death to all that can be over- 
come. God is pleased to compare Himself to 
a lion ; and though in this life H^ hath confined 
Himself with promises and gracious emanations 
of an infinite goodness, and limits Himself by 
conditions and covenants, and suffers Himself to 
be overcome by prayers, and Himself hath in- 
vented ways of atonement and expiation : yet 
when He is provoked by our unhandsome and 
unworthy actions. He makes sudden breaches, 
and tears some of us in pieces; and of others 
He breaks their bones, or affrights their hopes 
and secular gaieties, and fills their house with 
mourning, and cypress, and groans, and death : 
but when this Lion of the tribe of Judah shall 
appear upon His own mountain, the mountain 
of the Lord, in His natural dress of majesty, and 
that justice shall have her chain and golden fet- 
ters taken off, then justice shall strike and mercy 
shall not hold her hands : she shall strike sore 
strokes, and pity shall not break the blow." These 
ideas may well terrify the wicked. Still do not 
tender consciences need consolation ? Does not 
the sense of frequent lapses make us perhaps too 
prone to fear* that we have lost the favour of 
God, and are, as it were, given over to the enemy ? 

* See pp. 284, 285, 294. 



THE FUTURE JUDGMENT. 321 

How then are these difficulties to be reconciled, 
so that, on the one hand, men may he deterred 
from sin by the fear of terrible punishment; on 
the other may not be utterly dejected, while God 
is still willing to receive them 1 

In the first place, then, be it always remembered 
that God will deal equitably with all His crea- 
tures. That only will be expected which a man 
might well have been able to accomplish. God 
" know^eth whereof w^e are made, He remember- 
eth that we are but dust."* Again, our faculties 
are so imperfect that we cannot accurately judge 
even of the malignity of our own offences. "We 
cannot pronounce what amount of grief any par- 
ticular sin may cause to the Holy Ghost. "There 
is a sin (says St. John) unto death:"*)* and we 
may easily conceive ten thousand times ten thou- 
sand shades of less deep virulence and malignity. 
Our ignorance may be more clearly understood if 
we contrast it with the knowledge of God, Who 
alone can determine the guilt of any particular 
offence. He remembers our whole history from 
our birth up to the minute of the transgression. 
He estimates the strength of the temptation, the 
frequency with which it may have been repeated, 
the efforts, if any, with which resisted. Thus 

* Ps. ciii. 14. t ^ Jo^n y- 16, 

Y 



322 THE FUTURE JUDGMENT. 

then, though our ignorance be great, it at least 
leaves us free to infer the dreadful danger of the 
deliberate and habitual sinner. On the other 
hand, in our state of darkness we see nothing 
to take away the consolation which is sometimes 
so much needed. And the declarations of Scrip- 
ture, joined to his own recollections of the past, 
certainly do afford, to a truly religious man, that 
by which he may at least chase away despon- 
dency. 

For it is evidently the whole spirit of the Gos- 
pel, that the heart repenting of former sin, and 
honestly believing what is revealed, should make 
it a uniform purpose and endeavour to live agree- 
ably to the laws of God. If then there was at 
any time a failure in duty, such failure might 
naturally be followed by sincere sorrow, renewed 
zeal, redoubled vigilance, prayer for victory in 
future temptations. " Ye sorrowed (writes St. 
Paul) after a godly sort : what carefulness it 
wrought in you, yea what clearing of yourselves, 
yea what indignation, yea what fear, yea what 
vehement desire, yea what zeal, yea what re- 
venge !" * Thus a man's character might be 
continually improved and strengthened : though 
he would be unable to obtain perfection in his 

* 2 Cor. vi. 11. 



THE FUTURE JUDGMENT. 323 

present state, yet might he perpetually approach 
to such perfection : accordingly, numerous good 
deeds performed, in spite of some occasional ad- 
mixture of error, omission, delinquency, offence, 
might give evidence* of the source from which 
they proceeded, viz. the Spirit of God dwelling 
in his heart and inciting him to action. Thus 
then he being, according to the words of Scripture, 
" a temple of the Holy Ghost,"f though his body 
descends into the grave, still since he is sealed 
at it were with the Spirit, J of which he has the 
earnest, 1 1 is it to be supposed that God will desert 
him at the most important crisis of his existence, 
viz. the day of judgment ]§ Have we not then some 



* See p. 286, t 1 Cor. vi. 19. 

J Eph. iv. 30. II Ibid. i. 14. 

§ Again, can it be deemed unlikely that men who have 
saturated their hearts with evil, and continuing impenitent 
to the end, have deposited such hearts in their sepulchres, 
may, at the resurrection, reap what they have sown ? St. 
Paul illustrates the idea of a body rising at the last day by 
the consideration of a grain of corn becoming a plant. As is 
the seed, so is its produce. May not misery in a future state 
in great measure result from the unchecked dominion of licen- 
tious passions, which have been cherished in this life, but are 
now in many ways mitigated or controlled ? As the good, 
whom God has influenced in their earthly pilgrimage, are at 
last taken to Him ; so may not the wicked, whom the Devil 
has influenced, at length naturally be claimed by him as fit 

Y2 



324 THE FUTURE 'JUDGMENT. 

sure foundation on which to recruit our distressed 
spirits, and to drive away those dismal apprehen- 
sions which might otherwise assail us] Is not 
trust in God, a principle heretofore discussed, to 
be extended to the consideration of our position 
at the last day, as well as of every other condition 
in which we may be placed ? 

In regard to the nature of future happiness, 
our knowledge, as has been seen, is very im- 
perfect. Scripture teaches us in general, " Eye 
hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered 
iiito the heart of man, the things which God hath 
prepared for them that love Him."* We need 
not therefore be surprised that minute details are 
withheld. Considerations, however, of the attri- 
butes of God and the relations in which He stands 
to mankind, may lead us to conclude that the 
enjoyments of a future state will be infinitely 
more than a compensation for the severest pains 
of the most devoted martyrs. " What would you 
do," exclaims Taylor, " if God should command 
you to kill your eldest son, or to work in the 
mines for a thousand years together, or to fast 
all thy lifetime with bread and water? Were 

company for himself and his angels ? " Depart from me, ye 
cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his 
angels." (Matth. xxv. 41.) 

* 1 Cor. ii. 9. 



THE FUTURE JUDGMENT. 325 

not heaven a very great bargain even after all 
this ] And when God requires nothing of us but 
to live soberly, justly, and godly (which things 
of themselves are to a man a very great fehcity 
and necessary to our present well-being), shall 
we think this to be an intolerable burden V One 
particular species of satisfaction which Scripture 
holds out to Christians, is that of meeting again 
dear friends and relatives, from whom death has 
separated them. " But I would not have you to 
be ignorant, brethren (writes St. Paul), concern- 
ing them which are asleep; that ye sorrow not, 
even as those that have no hope. For if we 
believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so 
them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring 
with Him."* We read too of the " spirits of just 
men made perfect. "f Here is an expression in 
which much is imphed. To this state of per- 
fection, unattainable in the present life, we may 
hope hereafter to ascend. To those who suffer 
great pain fr'om the consciousness of their many 
imperfections and errors, this prospect of freedom 
from the defilement of Adam will alone cause 
sensations of purest satisfaction and joy. Again, 
hopes are held out to us of living under the more 
immediate presence and superintendence of God. 

* 1 Thess. iv. 13, 14. t Heb. xii. 23, 



326 THE FUTURE 'JUDGMENT. 

As in our purer state we may be more worthy of 
such honour and enjoyment, so is the prospect 
exhibited for our encouragement in endeavouring 
to -make ourselves thus pure. " Blessed are the 
pure in heart," says our Saviour, " for they shall 
see God."^ If we are " ever to be with the 
Lord,"-]- " when He shall appear," it will behove 
us to be " like Him ;" we must have " the wedding 
garment." Otherwise how shall we be fit to dwell 
in His presence 1 And " every man," adds St. 
John, '' who hath this hope in Him, purifieth 
himself even as He is pure.":}: 



* Matth. V 8. t 1 Thess. iv. 17. 

J 1 John iii. 3. With respect to the happiness of the blessed 
in a future state, see a treatise by Bishop Mant. 



THE END OF BOOK IV. 



( 327 ) 



CONCLUSION. 



The difficulties which it has been attempted 
to resolve or lessen in the foregoing pages, seem 
such as are at least worthy of being considered 
by an intelligent mind which has leisure and 
inclination to speculate upon its moral condition. 
And the numerous ties and relations by which 
we are bound, as well as the hopes and expecta- 
tions held out to us, can scarcely but force us to 
reflection. At all events the Author has himself 
had experience of these difficulties; and in his 
course of reading has frequently felt that the 
writers, by whom he has been instructed, have 
supposed something known and recognised which 
yet appeared to require illustration or proof Ac- 
cordingly he has been led to a consideration of the 
principles thus implied, and has tried to combine 
his ideas in such a manner as to lay a foundation 
for the prosecution of future studies. The trains 



;28 



CONCLUSION. 



of thought of different persons may of course ori- 
ginate in sources altogether different, and are, 
doubtless, modified with endless variety. Think- 
ing, however, that difficulties not unlike his own 
may probably have occurred to others, he has at 
length endeavoured to explain his views upon 
paper, hoping that they may do good, and trust- 
ing that at least they cannot do harm. 

These views, however, are of course prelimi- 
nary. The phenomena of Nature and the written 
revelation of God's will lie open to the minds of 
all ; nay more, they claim devoted attention, and 
afford scope to the continual exercise of men's 
highest faculties. Our aim is to grow in grace. 
It is the earnest wish of the sincere Christian, that 
his knowledge of God's will may be increased and 
his power of obedience strengthened. In order to 
obtain these benefits we must use the appointed 
means. Every day which is granted is an oppor- 
tunity of moral and religious improvement. Our 
customary duties, our numerous relations to man- 
kind, our habits of intercourse and conversation, 
our station in life, our prosperity and adversity, 
our books, our courses of thought and association 
of ideas, every thing that we do, or speak, or 
think, should be considered in connexion with 
our spiritual welfare. Our feelings of love to 
men and love to God should be continually cul- 



CONCLUSION. 329 

tivated and improved.* Need it then be said how 
assiduous we ought to be in those exercises which 
are more peculiarly religious ] In earnest prayer 
both public and private, in frequent reception of 
the Supper of the Lord, in diligent study of the 
character of our divine Master ] 

In our honest and reverent search for truth, 
while we gladly receive such proof as is really 
satisfactory, we shall of course abstain from build- 
ing theories upon insufficient evidence. " Woe 
unto him (says a learned writer) who generalizes 
upon insufficient observation." Whether we ad- 
mit the evidence we ought "not, or do not admit 



* In treating upon the moral culture of the affections as 
a duty, Dr. Whewell writes as follows : " We can perceive 
that we have in various ways power over our feelings. Even 
immediately by the power which we possess of directing our 
train of thoughts, we can foster or repress an affection. We 
can call before our minds and dwell upon those features of 
character and situation which tend to impress on our minds 
one sentiment or another. We can, for instance, think on all 
that our parents have done and suffered for us, and can thus 
move our hearts to a love of them. And above all, the recol- 
lection that affections are natural and right will fix and pro- 
mote them." From these considerations we may ascend to 
the contemplation of our various relations to God ; we may 
direct our thoughts to the things which Christ has done and 
suffered for us, and to what He has promised : and we may 
thus foster our love of God. And above all, the recollection 
that such love is natural and right will fix and promote it. 



330 CONCLUI^ION. 

that which we ought, in either case we of course 
fall into error. Numerous examples of grievous 
mistakes, beacons for warning, might be collected 
from the history of mankind. Some we have 
already considered. There is, however, a class of 
examples which indeed are obtruded upon our 
observation, and are particularly suitable to the 
discussions in which we have been engaged, viz. 
the divisions and quarrels of those who, as Chris- 
tians, ought to be united by a bond of Christian 
brotherhood. In consequence of such dissensions 
and even bitter animosities, religion itself is con- 
temned by the inconsiderate, and Christianity 
becomes in some degree a prey to the scoffer. 
In regard to these differences so frequent, so 
important, and yet so sad, it may perhaps be 
allowed to conclude this volume with a few 
words of caution. In considering then the evi- 
dence of religious truth, and, as part thereof, in 
studying Scripture, let us not merely look to par- 
ticular passages, but let us also take account of 
other passages which modify and limit the mean- 
ing of the former. The two sets of passages ought 
to be considered side by side for the sake of 
qualification and explanation, and not to be op- 
posed to each other as the watchwords of parties. 
For Holy Scripture is ever coherent; and vehe- 
ment party-spirit is not favourable to the attain- 



CONCLUSION. 331 

ment of truth.* Let it also be continually 
remembered, that the motives for studying Scrip- 
ture comprehend something higher than the hope 
of exhibiting critical acumen and skill in contro- 
versial divinity. We may naturally suppose that 
doctrines which are most conspicuously and em- 
phatically marked, and are therefore plain even 
to the unlearned, are those which especially 
demand our most full and complete recognition : 
for as is light, so is responsibility. At all events 
from these doctrines and from the general tone 
of the whole book, an honest mind, assisted by 
the Spirit of God, may derive that food and sus- 
tenance of which, in the difficulties and trials of 
life, we all experience such perpetual need. 



* It has been said, with perhaps some truth, " He who 
begins by loving Christianity better than truth will proceed 
by loving his own sect or church better than Christianity, and 
end in loving himself better than all." — Coleridge, Aids to 
Eejlection. 



THE END. 



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